Widespread criticisms and condemnation have continued to trail the arraignment for treason and other criminal offences against some of the participants in the EndBadGovernance protesters who were charged in Court on Monday. A leading Lawyer-activist, Mr. Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on Tuesday offered the President a piece of advice: to direct the
Widespread criticisms and condemnation have continued to trail the arraignment for treason and other criminal offences against some of the participants in the EndBadGovernance protesters who were charged in Court on Monday.
A leading Lawyer-activist, Mr. Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on Tuesday offered the President a piece of advice: to direct the Inspector General of Police to withdraw treason charges against the protesters.
Mr Falana advised at a two-day conference on International Anti-Corruption and Climate Change organised by Human and Environmental Agenda (HEDA) in partnership with Hawkmoth with the support of MacArthur in Abuja: “This will be the fifth treason charge I am going to defend in our country,” Falana noted. “In the four previous cases, the government was compelled to withdraw the charges because we turned the case into the trial of the government.”
The Human Rights Advocate while faulting the increasing use of treason charges against protesters in the country, warned that the misuse of treason charges could backfire on the government as it has in the past.
“I have been under pressure in the last 24 hours from Nigeria and abroad. People are wondering why the charge of treason is tribalism in our country. How can we say because people protested, they are being charged with treason? All those who have expressed concern, do not be bothered; there is no cause for alarm.
“We are taking up the case, and we are going to advise the government, particularly the President, to direct the police to withdraw the charge. And that advice is also in the interest of the government because a treason charge is not like a charge of stealing.
Mr Falana who said that the current case will be the fifth treason charge he is going to defend in the country”, said: “In the four previous cases, the government was compelled to withdraw the charges because we turned the case into the trial of the government”.
The legal luminary questioned the rationale behind charging citizens with treason simply for exercising their right to protest, assuring the public that there is no cause for alarm.
The Federal Government had on Monday filed treason charges against 10 protesters, including a British citizen, Andrew Martin Wynne (also known as Andrew Povich), in connection with the recent #EndBadGovernance protests.
The 10 protesters charged on Monday were: Michael Tobiloba Adaramoye (also known as Lenin), 28; Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi (also known as Yomi), 34; Suleiman Yakubu, 28; Comrade Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, 50; Angel Love Innocent, 51; Buhari Lawal, 21; Mosiu Sadiq, 28; Bashir Bello (also known as Murtala), 51; Nuradeen Khamis, 47; and Abdulsalam Zubairu, 37.
The charges also include others at large, such as Lucky Ehis Obiyan and Comrade Musa Abdullahi. The charges, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, include felony and treason, contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code. The protesters are accused of conspiring to destabilize Nigeria, inciting mutiny, and levying war against the state.
The protesters who appeared before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja remanded nine male accused persons in the Kuje Correctional Centre while the only female accused person was remanded in Suleja Correctional Centre, Niger state.
The court also fixed 11 September for trial and ruling on bail application by the accused persons who all pleaded not guilty and were arraigned on six counts of alleged treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony and inciting to mutiny which is an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.
The defendants are equally accused of levying war against the state to intimidate President Bola Tinubu by attacking and injuring police officers and burning police stations, government buildings and private buildings.
Amnesty International Kicks
Responding to the trial of protesters arrested during the nationwide #EndBadGovrnance protests between 1–10 August, Mr Isa Sanusi Director of Amnesty International Nigeria said: “We condemn the sham trials even before they began and call for an end to these endless bizarre attempts to deprive people of the right to peaceful protest.
What is going to happen to these protesters — who took to the streets last month seeking good governance — is a disguised exercise solely aimed at punishing dissenters.“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested from 1-10 August for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, instead of resorting to putting them through trumped-up charges just to justify unlawfully detaining them”
“The Nigerian government has been wrongfully placing priority on punishing protesters, without saying even a word on the urgent need to investigate the killing of dozens of protesters across Kano, Katsina, Suleja/Tafa, Jigawa and Maiduguri. Many protesters were subjected to horrific violations by security personnel, including excessive use of force and misuse of tear gas”, he said.
Some of the protesters’ demands include the restoration of petrol subsidies and the forex regime. They also want the government to address food shortages, unemployment, and the wasteful spending of those in power. Other demands are a reduction of the President’s cabinet and general cost of governance, immediate reforms of the electoral umpire INEC and anti-graft agency EFCC with renewed vigour in the fight against corrupt politicians.
The protests turned awry in Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Jigawa, Nasarawa and other states where rampaging hoodlums took advantage of the situation burned vehicles, and looted warehouses and private stores. Police said seven persons died during incidents around the protests but denied that security agents killed any of the victims.
Police Declare Suspects Wanted
The Nigeria Police Force, on Monday, declared one foreign mercenary, Andrew Wynne, a British citizen, with multiple identities and his Nigerian accomplice, one Lucky Ehis Obiyan, wanted over a plot to topple President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government and plunge the nation into chaos.
On Monday, the Force Spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, declared Andrew Wynne, a British citizen, wanted stressing that the suspects rented a space at La Barbour House, Abuja, to cover his subversive activities.
According to the Force Spokes, “Since the commencement of investigations, Andrew Wynne has fled the country. He and one of his local coordinators, one Lucky Ehis Obiyan, have accordingly been declared wanted and global hunting for them has commenced in connection with this investigation.”
Reacting on Monday, the British national, Mr Wynne, who was declared wanted over an alleged attempt to cause regime change in Nigeria through # EndBad Governance Protest, has faulted the Nigerian government, saying protesting cannot be treated as treason.
Mr Wynne faulted the charges, saying rather than addressing the people’s demands, the Nigerian government turned to repression.
In the statement titled: ‘Protest is not Treason – Release all the Detainees!’, Andrew said: “The mass protests over EndBadGov enhance and EndHunger frightened the government. But rather than addressing the people’s demands, the government turned to repression.
“Perhaps 40 people were murdered by the police and other security forces, thousands were arrested, and many remain in captivity. In Abuja, the authorities have attacked the so-called leaders and organisers of the protests. Ten people face ridiculous charges including treason, mutiny, and levying war against the state.
“The NLC promised a general strike to protect its President, Joe Ajaero, from arrest and detention about similar charges. Despite the flimsy nature of the evi¬dence against the detainees, they face long years in prison unless the trade union movement is prepared to protect them. On 7th August, the NLC said it, ‘condemns in the strongest terms the human rights violations perpetrated by security forces against peaceful protesters.’
“The first person to be arrested in this case was Eleojo Opalu¬wa. He is a former colleague of Joe Ajaero, working for NUEE, the electricians’ union, as an organiser in Abuja. He is also the Vice Chair of the NLC in Kogi State. He has now been detained for over 4 weeks, with no tangible evidence. His family was told that he had received a WhatsApp message from one of the other alleged leaders. This was after Eleojo had been detained.
“The ten detainees have been accused of conspiracy to commit a range of serious crimes. However, they barely know each other. Five of them may have been members of a WhatsApp group set up to organise the protests in Abuja. But the other five are unknown to these comrades. They may be a few of the flag-waving protesters from Kano, who were added to extend the range of the organisers, to cover the main protests from Sokoto to Maidu Guri.
“There appears to be a conflict between the government and the police investigating this case. The head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) told the detainees’ lawyers that he would have re-released them, but that he had orders from above not to set them free. So the police have developed what appears to be a ridiculous case, involving the owner of Iva Valley Books. They are claiming that he goes under the name of Andrew Povich, a Russian-sounding name and that he has now left Nigeria for Russia.
“Neither of these claims are true. Yomi, who works for Iva Valley Books, has, like the other detainees, been treated in an inhumane manner. He was arrested in front of his wife and three-year-old daughter. All their phones were confiscated by the police. This was despite appeals from his wife that they needed a phone to get money for food.
“He was then imprisoned illegally and held in chains, beaten and tortured for three days. His only involvement was to design flyers for the protests on the instructions of his boss. The NLC has shown that it has the power to protect its president. It now needs to extend this action to protect its other officers, its members, and the public.”
