Several minors, aged between 14 and 17, who were arrested during August’s #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hardship in the country, have shared their harrowing experiences while in custody.
The stories of their ordeal was shared with The PUNCH after being granted reprieve by President Bola Tinubu on Monday.
Recall that their trial had sparked outcry across the country, with civil society groups and rights activists blaming the police and the government over their treatment of the minors from Kano and Kaduna states.
Following the uproar, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during an emergency briefing on Monday, told State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja that President Tinubu had directed the immediate release of all the minors.
Consequently, the Abuja High Court in Abuja struck out the charges brought against the protesters by the police.
The minors returned to Kano and Kaduna on Tuesday night with tales of woes, describing their experiences while in custody as “hellish.”
Those from Kano have been kept at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, where they are being checked and treated by a team of medical personnel. They are expected to remain in the hospital for five days, before they are reunited with their families.
Some of them said they were denied food by the government officials for several days.
“We saw hell; we suffered a lot,” one of the minors, Umar Ali, 15, said. “We sometimes stayed for three days without food. And even when we were given food, it was always not enough.”
Ali denied involvement in the protest saying he was arrested on his way to the market at Kwana Hudu in Ungoggo Local Government Area of the state, where he usually does menial jobs to sustain himself.
Another minor, Ibrahim Aliyu Musa, who was transferred from Kano to Abuja a day after his arrest, said he and others were kept in the same place with hardened criminals.
“I was among those that were kept in the same place with hardened criminals and we sometimes spent a number of days without food.
“The food was nothing to write home about, they were inadequate and tasteless. They served us beans in the morning, rice at lunch time and Gabza for dinner. Gabza is normally prepared for inmates due to their large number. So, we had to eat Gabza so as to keep body and soul moving,” Musa added.
Also narrating his ordeal, a 13-year-old boy, who said he was arrested at Gadon Kaya in Gwale Local Government Area, said he was accused of flying the Russian flag, which he denied doing.
“I was arrested on August 15 and moved to Abuja the following day. We were kept at Abattoir SARS in Abuja. We were kept with hardened criminals for the number of days we were there,” he said.
