THE Nigerian Correction Service (NCS) has confirmed that none of the #EndBadGovernance protesting minors who were arraigned before Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court (FHC) Abuja Division, for treason on Friday, November were in their custody.
The service disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson Abubakar Umar on Saturday, November 3.
According to Umar, media reports stating that the suspect who was arrested for protesting against government policies are in their custody are misleading.
He stated that the said report has no iota of truth as the correctional centre operates based on best correctional and global practices.
“To set records straight, the Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 has empowered the Controllers of Corrections as well as Superintendents-in-charge of Custodial Centres not to admit juveniles in facilities meant for adults.
“The Act also mandates the Service to reject more intake of inmates where it is apparent that the custodial facility in question is filled.
The Service wishes to inform the public that the said suspects were rejected and none of the suspects was remanded in adult custodial facilities as insinuated by the said report,” the NCS stated.
The Service also assures the public that the Nigerian Correctional Service will continue to emphasise professionalism as well as respect for human rights in line with the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Juvenile offenders.
The ICIR reported that minors among the #EndBadGovernance protesters who were sent to Kuje prison for not meeting the N10 million bail each granted them by the FHC in Abuja on Friday were rejected by officials at the facility.
According to reports, the minors who are under the age of 18 years, in addition to the bail money, are expected to provide one surety, who needs to be a civil servant.
But when they could not meet their bail condition, they were taken to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Narrating what transpired at the Kuje Correctional Centre, the executive director (ED) of Hope Behind Bars, Funke Adeoye, stated that on getting to Kuje, 27 minors were rejected and were subsequently taken to the office of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Abuja.
According to her, the prosecution team was trying to use a single remand warrant for all 27 minors, and the officers at Kuje rejected this and insisted that individual warrants are required for each minor.
She added that the correctional officers also expressed concern about the potential risk of holding the minors at Kuje, citing the possibility of sexual assault by other inmates.
Other sources also raised issues on the whereabouts of the remaining minors. According to a reliable source, 38 minors were taken to Kuje, but only 27 were counted at the facility and sent to IRT, which raised the question of where the others were.
A reporter with the ICIR
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