About five out of the no fewer than 125 defendants brought before a Federal High Court in Abuja for arraignment collapsed on Friday few minutes after the commencement of proceedings.
The defendants, who are mostly teens, were brought before Justice Obiora Egwuatu for arraignment on terrorism charge filed against them by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
They were alleged to have participated in the last #EndBadGovernance protest in Kano State, during which they allegedly chanted anti-government slogans and carried foreign flags.
According to one of the defence lawyers, Marshall Abubakar, the defendants were charged in two batches of 76 and 49.
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Shortly after the first batch was called, the defendants were mounting the dock when some of them suddenly fell down, causing confusion in court, a development that prompted the judge to suspend proceedings.
Abubakar blamed the development on hunger and ill-health on the part of the defendants. He said most of the defendants were mostly teens of about 12 years old.
He said: “All these young children are sick and hungry. They have been kept in police custody for weeks without food and proper medical care. They are sick and need proper attention. That is the cause of these unfortunate developments.”
The Nation
