On Tuesday, a Nigerian court freed 119 people, including youngsters, after the government dropped charges against them stemming from deadly protests in August over economic hardship.
Police shot tear gas during a protest in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday, August 1, 2024. Thousands of primarily young people took to the streets across Nigeria on Thursday to protest the country’s biggest cost-of-living problem in a generation. Security personnel used tear gas to disperse some protestors in Abuja, the capital.
The accused faced charges of treason and instigating a military coup and were arraigned in batches of 76 and 43 last Friday. One of the charges involved the death penalty.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday ordered the release of all juveniles jailed during August’s anti-government rallies and dropped the accusations against them. “The case has been struck out, and the 119 protesters have been released,” Deji Adeyanju, counsel to the protesters, told reporters.
Now we are requesting rehabilitation and compensation from their respective state governments.” After taking over the case from the police, the country’s attorney general dismissed the charges and scheduled the hearing for January.