Senior lawyers have condemned the arraignment of the minors for treason.
Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) said, ‘’I don’t think they are treating those children well. They are not treating them according to the law. All I know is they can’t even convict them of a capital offence, detaining them as long as they have done is unfortunate. CNN reported it where four of them fainted. I do know they can’t convict those below 17 years of age.
“What should be done if a child commits an offence, you release the person to an elder or an adult in the family, you don’t keep a child for such a long time in prison custody. And what is their offence? That they demonstrated. It is quite unfortunate. We are heading towards a one-party dictatorship in Nigeria.
Speaking in the same vein, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), argued that the government has not been able to justify the criminal charges levelled against the minors, describing their arraignment as embarrassing.
He stated, “For a person to be charged with treasonable felony, he must have the means, he must have the capacity and be planning to overthrow the government. So by the Child Rights Act, children who are aged from 13 downwards are not supposed to face regular prosecution in court as adults are supposed to do and again it was against the principles of Federalism for offences to occur in Kaduna State, in Kano State and then the Federal government takes over the prosecution of those offences over and above the powers granted to the attorney General of those States.
“There is a criminal procedure code governing crimes committed in Kaduna State and Kano State and there is no basis for bringing those minors to court in such an embarrassing manner. I call upon the Federal Government to withdraw the charges. Obviously, these children have been in custody since August, September, and October until November 1, when they were arraigned.
“So, there is a case of unlawful custody and detention, and so they should also be compensated and also be tutored and provided opportunity for proper education. This should actually turn into a golden opportunity for the government to change the future and destiny of these children as it has shown that we are dealing with serious cases of out-of-school children which the government has not been able to cater for.’’
Another senior lawyer, Kashopefoluwa Balogun, also submitted that the children should not have been arraigned.
‘’With respect to the general position of law when it comes to minor arraignment, conviction and all of that, because at that age, they are expected to be protected irrespective of the allegation or the crime they are being alleged to have committed. Being children of around 13 years, they are not meant to be openly arraigned with adults.
“There’s a juvenile provision just like it extends to the issue of their detention, they are not meant to be detained with adults because the rationale behind the law is to protect them. The Constitution presumes them to be innocent so you don’t want to expose them to these public issues, this public display, public arraignment whereby at the end of the day some of them will not be found guilty,’’ he affirmed.
Continuing, Balogun added, “According to the Juvenile/Child Rights Act, which governs the issue of charging kids to court, the law draws a distinction that when you are between 0-7 years, the law believes that such a person is not believed to be able to commit any crime.”
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