The seventy six detained Kano minors on Tuesday night returned home via the Malam Aminu International Airport aboard a Max aircraft.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the plane, which also flew Governor Abba Yusuf, touched down around 9:57pm.
Earlier in the evening, Yusuf had received the minors who had been released on the orders of President Bola Tinubu, Tuesday morning.
Among those who received the minors were: the State Deputy Governor, Abdul Salam Gwarzo, Speaker of the State Assembly, Alhaji Isma’ila Falgore, commissioners, top government functionaries as well as politicians.
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The minors were immediately taken into three buses to Muhammadu Buhari Special Hospital where a team of medical professionals had been designated to assess their physical and mental health.
Meanwhile, the Lygel Youths and Leadership Initiative (LYLI) has called for immediate police reforms following reports of minors being detained over the August 2024 #Endnadgovernance protests in Nigeria.
The director legal compliance of the organisation, Lekan Oladapo, said such actions not only undermine the protection of children but also breach both national laws and international human rights standards.
He condemned the unlawful detention and mistreatment of young protesters, urging authorities to address the systemic abuses within law enforcement and protect the rights of children and individuals.
He said the immediate reforms would prevent further abuse and ensure the safety and dignity of minors in the country.
“It is becoming worrisome, that the state of abuse of the police has degenerated to the abysmal abuse of law as instrument of exacerbating violence on the Nigerian minors without any pretext.
“Our organisation, to say the least, considers it an aberration to the law and common sense putting the Nigerian children in despicable human condition.
“To our minds, the process of the recent arrest, incarceration and the arraignment of the minors under pitiable condition are condemnable. Stating this further, the official reaction of the police to this unwarranted inhuman and violation of the child’s rights is a dagger blow assault of the collective intelligence of the Nigerian citizens.
“The rights of the minors are non-negotiable and non-derogable as far as Section 11 of the Child’s Rights and Section 34 of the Constitution are concerned. It is obvious that the way and manner the minors were detained, lumped with the adult detainees is a violent breach of their rights to the human dignity on which the violation cannot be ordinarily compensated,” Oladapo said.
He urged the government to fish out the perpetrators of the ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ and allow them to face the consequence of their action, saying that the Inspector-General of Police should also be relieved of his duty as a responsible officer of this ignominious act.
“There is need to do more on the police reform, for the IGP has arrogate so much power to himself that needed to be checkmated. Flowing from the state of things, there is needed to restructure the Police Council beyond mere advisory roles it plays in the appointment of the IGP.
“We, as an organisation with the object of good leadership and youth development, are following this up to ensure that needed reform is brought up to bring sanity to the polity,” he said.