By Onyinyechi Ugwoke
Group forms New Nigeria Network to demand justice for hundreds EndSARS protesters arrested during the protest in Lagos and are still detained in police custody without bail.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Barr. Adesina Ogunlana said that, “hundreds of citizens were arrested in October 2020 as ‘EndSARS criminals’ by security agencies and hundreds of them are languishing in prisons with none of them undergoing trial at the courts.”
He queried that, it is the fundamental rights of every citizen to protest while the duty of the state government and the police is to ensure that protests are carried out peacefully and not suppress it.
Ogunlana explained that, many detained protesters have applied for bail but has been stiffly opposed by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on the ground of the severity of the offence.”
“According to the constitution, all offences are bailable and all application for bail would have to be considered judiciously,” he added.
The Co-convener of the New Nigeria Network said that the objective of the group is to ensure that due process is taken, in commencing the immediate prosecution of an alleged offender after being arrested and not keep him/her in custody without trial or bail.
The representatives of the group urged supporters of the EndSARS movement not to relent in the struggle to obtain liberty for the incarcerated #EndSARS protesters and for solidarity actions on the day of court appearances in order to put pressure on the appropriate authorities to release the detainees.
