Labour Party chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo has called on President Bola Tinubu to apologize to minors who were wrongly arraigned alongside #EndBadGovernance protesters.
In an interview, Okonkwo emphasized that the charges, detention, and arraignment of the minors were unjust.
Okonkwo is pushing for adequate compensation for the affected children, who were malnourished, maltreated, and mistreated throughout the ordeal.
The controversy surrounding the minors’ arraignment sparked widespread outrage, prompting President Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General to withdraw charges against them.
A federal high court in Abuja today struck out the suit against 119 protesters, including the minors, who were released and hosted by Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the State House.
Interestingly, a federal government prosecutor, Rimazonte Ezekiel, claimed that all protesters arraigned were adults.
However, Okonkwo’s stance highlights the need for accountability and protection of human rights, particularly for vulnerable populations like minors.
He said, “The president has to apologise to those children and compensate them adequately. It was very wrong. The charges were wrong.
“The process of detaining them was wrong. The process of arraigning them was wrong. They were just malnourished, maltreated, and mistreated in that whole process. The police should be apologizing to them.”
