Rimazonte Ezekiel, a federal government prosecutor, has claimed that all individuals arraigned in court during the #EndBadGovernance protest on Friday are adults.
Gatekeepers News reports that the police have charged 72 defendants with participating in the nationwide protests that occurred between August 1 and 10.
While reports indicated that some of the defendants were minors, they were ultimately granted bail set at N10 million.
This situation has sparked significant public outcry, with many Nigerians condemning the federal government’s actions regarding the minors involved.
In a statement to the media following the court proceedings, Ezekiel, representing the government, refuted claims of minors being part of the group, emphasizing that “most of them are married men.”
He claimed that the “small kids” present in court “came with their parents to greet their loved ones” and “are not even the real suspects standing trial in this case”.
“All of these boys that we brought to the court today are adults. Most of them are married men; none of them is a minor. Some of them are university graduates,” Ezekiel said.
“The small kids you see here came with their parents to greet their loved ones. They are not even the real suspects standing trial in this case.
“These boys were arrested in Kaduna and Zaria. These boys were using the Russian flag and calling on the military to remove our president.”
