The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has condemned the detention and reported maltreatment of minors involved in the #EndBadGovernance protests.
The organization expressed alarm after reports surfaced that several minors, some as young as 15, collapsed from malnutrition inside a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The minors have been held by the Nigerian police since August for participating in protests against rising insecurity and hardship in the country. CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, called on First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu to intervene, urging her to view the detained minors as “her own children.” He also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to order their immediate release, condemning the actions of government officials, including the Minister of Justice.
“It is disturbing and damaging to Nigeria’s global image to witness such treatment of young citizens who were only exercising their constitutional rights,” Rafsanjani said in a statement.
The incident has drawn significant attention after images and videos of the minors collapsing in court circulated widely on social media. Lawyers and bystanders tried to revive the children, who had been transported to court from various detention facilities where they were allegedly denied adequate food and medical care. Sources claim their prolonged detention was an attempt to punish them for protesting, despite a lack of credible evidence linking them to any crime.
CISLAC also urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to take immediate action to defend the minors’ rights, and called on international organizations, including UNICEF and Save the Children, to pressure the Nigerian government for their release.
Rafsanjani reiterated that the detention violated national and international human rights standards, labeling the responsible officials as the true criminals in the situation. He described the detention of minors under such conditions as a “dark stain” on Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and human rights.
The minors had been detained following a police order accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilize the government, claims which CISLAC and other rights groups dispute.
The organization emphasized that those responsible for the minors’ unjust detention must be held accountable.
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