Arraignment Of Minor Is An International Embarrassment-Kingibe
LAGOS NOVEMBER 3RD (NEWSRANGERS)-Senator Representating Federal Capital Territory, Senator Ireti Kingibe has condemned the recent arraignment of minors accused of participating the #EndBadGovernce describing an international embarrassment.
The Senator in her X-platform said the act is not only condemnable but an absolute disgrace, and it cannot stand.
“If we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we expect to safeguard foreign investors whom we are actively trying to attract to our country?” she queried.
She lamented that these minors, who bravely voiced their grievances against the unbearable hardship and hunger ravaging our land, are now being charged with treason—an offense that, if found guilty, carries the death penalty.
According to her, “When did we become a nation that turns against its own children—our very hope for tomorrow? When did we lose our compassion and humanity to the extent that we humiliate, arrest, and drag young children into court for the “crime” of speaking out?
“This shameful prosecution of our youth is not only unjust—it is a betrayal of our humanity and an assault on our future. How can we stand idly by as the dreams of our children are crushed under the weight of oppression? This must end. This is utterly disgraceful, and everyone involved should feel ashamed. We owe our citizens, particularly our children, not just protection from external threats but also from unjust treatment within.
“Children deserve quality education, better healthcare, and protection from domestic violence and abuse, not brutal treatment for exercising their constitutional rights.
“According to Nigeria’s Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), minors between the ages of 1 and 17 should never be arraigned in adult criminal courts but instead in juvenile courts, which have exclusive jurisdiction over such cases. Yet, these minors were held in maximum correctional centers for over 85 days before being charged with treason.
“How have we, as leaders, stooped so low? Instead of addressing the root causes of their protest, we prosecute those who cry out against them. How can a government tasked with protecting its citizens justify holding minors in correctional centers, treating their peaceful protest as a criminal offense? When did peaceful protest—a fundamental right of citizens—become a crime in Nigeria?
“ Numerous videos circulating on social media and news platforms show malnourished children with visible collarbones, countable ribs, fainting, crying, hungry, sick, and, most horrifically, being manhandled. This has turned us into an international embarrassment. If we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we expect to safeguard foreign investors whom we are actively trying to attract to our country? This is not only condemnable but an absolute disgrace, and it cannot stand.
“I demand that every relevant authority—the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Chief Justice of the Federation—as well as the Human Rights Commission and all human rights lawyers, urgently unite to secure the immediate and unconditional release of these minors. I also call upon all mothers and women across the nation to rise in protest against this deplorable treatment of our children. This is not the Nigeria we dreamed of; we cannot allow our future to be sacrificed in silence. –SenatorIretiKingibe”
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Posted by News Rangers
on Nov 3 2024. Filed under National.
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