The Counsel to the Federal Government, Rimazonte Ezekiel has said that some of the 76 accused persons arraigned for #EndBadGovernance protests are adults, and not minors.
Ezekiel even said that they have wives who came with their parents to the court.
Following the ruling on Friday by a Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court in Abuja that they be bailed for N10 million each, the counsel said to the media: “These boys that we brought to the court today are adults. Most of them are married men. None of them is a minor. Some of them are university graduates. The small kids you are seeing here today came with their parents to come and greet their loved ones.
“They are not even the real suspects standing trial in this case. These boys were arrested in Kaduna and Zaria. Do you know how much it cost us to be at this level of democracy in this country? These boys are trying to destabilise Nigeria using the Russian flags and other countries, while calling on the military to remove our President.
“Is it fair? To even remove the state governors. If they don’t want democracy again, are we forcing them? Everybody is enjoying their fundamental human rights. Nobody is abusing their rights. Everything is moving on well in the country only for these boys for no reason started protests with Russia and other countries’ flags”.
He chided the defence council for soiling the Nigeria Police, insisting that all of the accused are adults.
In granting the bail, Justice Egwuatu specified that one of the sureties for each accused must be a Level 15 civil servant, while the other should be a parent of the respective defendant.
He further instructed the sureties to submit their letters of last promotion, letters of appointment, means of identification, and verified addresses to the court. Additionally, the sureties were to deposit their international passports with the court registrar, along with passport photographs, and swear an affidavit of means.
Justice Egwuatu further ruled: “The defendants are granted bail in the sum of N10 million each, with two sureties in like sum. One of them must be a Level 15 civil servant and the other a parent to the defendant”.
