EndBadGovernance: Northern Groups call on President Tinubu to intervene in the prosecution of minors

A coalition of northern youth groups have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene in the ongoing arrest, detention and prosecution of underage #EndBadGovernance protesters across the country.

It described the actions as inhumane and condescending.

The founder of the Yan-Almajiri Endowment Initiative and BoT Chairman of the Coalition of Northern Youths Groups, Yahaya Mohammed Usman, made the call in a statement in Minna.

Usman denounced the abuse and the traumatic condition the minors were in, stressing that “they look very sick and are writhing in pain on the floor of the court.”

Recall that the federal government on Friday charged 76 minors who appeared malnourished. Four of them were hurried out of the courtroom because they could not stand on their feet.

Earlier, in August 2024, the coalition had called on the federal and state governments to grant amnesty to protesters arrested across the country to prevent further waste of scarce resources.

The Group also urged President Tinubu and the Governors of Northern States to establish an endowment of N250 billion for technical and vocational training in all Islamiyya schools in Northern Nigeria, to assist them in their rehabilitation and reintegration.

Usman further said, “This call has become necessary in view of the fact that most of those arrested are poor ALMAJIRI children and/or uneducated, uneducated and unemployed citizens who are all minors.

“We call for an urgent endowment fund for skills development and education for all minors in Nigeria: this has become necessary given that the economic situation is difficult for ordinary citizens.”