Several minors aged between 14 and 17, who were detained during the #EndBadGovernance protests in August, have shared their harrowing experiences while in detention.
TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) recalls that the nationwide protest against economic hardship and poor governance happened from August 1 to 10, with demonstrators calling for reduced governance costs, the reinstatement of petrol subsidy, and food security.
The released minors who returned to Kano and Kaduna on Tuesday night, recounted ”hellish’, conditions in detention. Many of the minors from Kano were taken to the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, where medical personnel have been assessing and treating them.
Reports from some of these minors indicated that they had been denied food for extended periods while in custody. The medical team is expected to monitor them for five days before reuniting the with their families.
One of the minors, Umar Ali, 15, said, “We saw hell; we suffered a lot.
“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.
He added that they were kept in the dark while under custody, which he said affected some of them when they went for trial.
“We hardly saw sunlight in the place where we were kept, hence the reason why some of us could not see very well when we were brought to the court,” he said.
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 the 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.