Amnesty International has asked President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to release #EndSARS protesters still held by the Nigerian police two years after the demonstration.
The group made this call in a statement issued on Wednesday following the release of nine protesters who had been in police custody for over two years.
The rights organisation claimed that as of October 2022, 40 #EndSARS protesters were still illegally held in prisons across the country.
The nine protesters were part of the 100 inmates released from the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan on Monday and Tuesday under the chief judge’s prerogative of mercy.
“In October last year, our investigation shows that over 40 #EndSARS protesters are still languishing in prisons across Nigeria,” Amnesty said. “Amnesty International calls on the Nigerian authorities to also release: Ayodeji Oluwasegun, Andoh Immanuel, Yakubu Olayiwola, Olaogun Ismail, Uba Chukwuma, Dosunmu Taiwo, Daniel Joy-Igbo, Yusuf Rafiu, Olawale Marcus, Muyiwa Onikoyi, Shehu Anas, Suleman Saidu, Rasheed Wasiu Bolaji, Adigun Sodiq, Sunday Okoro, Akiniran Oyetakin, Ogidi Isah, Ibrahim Adesanya, and Faruk Abdulquadri who are #EndSARS protesters detained without trial in Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos since 2020.”
The group explained that those freed from prison on Tuesday had been held there for more than two years and three months without being tried and that they were held on fabricated charges, including theft, arson, possession of illegal firearms, and murder.
Speaking on the development, Osai Ojigho, the country director for Amnesty International, asked President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime to “immediately and unconditionally” release all #EndSARS protesters held behind bars.
She asked the regime to “urgently respect, protect, promote and fulfil the right to peaceful protest including by publicly directing security and law enforcement agencies to stop infringing on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
