Three Years After #EndSars, Over 15 Protesters Still Detained In Lagos Prisons – Amnesty

Amnesty International said that fifteen protestors who were imprisoned during the 2020 #EndSARS demonstration are still being held without trial three years later.

The majority of the protestors are being held in Lagos’ Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre without being tried, the international organisation claimed in a statement posted on its website on Friday.

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The group also charged the government with fabricating charges against many of the protestors, including theft, arson, possession of illegal firearms, and murder.

“Our investigation shows the Nigerian authorities’ utter disdain for human rights. Three years in detention without trial is a travesty of justice. This shows the authorities’ contempt for due process of law. The protesters must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Isa Sanusi Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

It cited Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Sunday Okoro, Oluwole Isa, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin as the seven #EndSARS protesters who had been unjustly detained in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.

Another eight protesters, identified by the outfit as Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan, and Sadiq Riliwan, have been held without charge since 2020 in Lagos’ Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre.

Beninese national Daniel Joy-Igbo, who was one of those held after being taken into custody in Lagos in October 2020, revealed to Amnesty International that he had been held at the Bar Beach Police Station, the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, and a SARS facility in Ikeja.

“Since my arraignment in December 2020, I have been locked up in the prison without trial. Since then, there has been no adjourned date for my case. I have not been taken to court since December 2020,” he said

Sodiq Adigun, who was previously jailed at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti and was also detained in October 2020, uttered the following: “Let the government release me. I have been held without charge since 2020. I am innocent. My entire existence has been upended. I need to be free, he declared.