The Borno State Government has sentenced seven young Nigerians, including teenagers, to prison terms, public flogging and community service over their alleged roles in last year’s #EndBadGovernance protests, sparking outrage from Amnesty International.
Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement posted on its X handle on Thursday, described the trial as a “sham” and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the youths.
The global rights watchdog disclosed that the youths, aged between 15 and 17, were accused of creating a WhatsApp group named Zanga Zanga to mobilise against the administration of Governor Babagana Zulum.
According to Amnesty, the Borno authorities charged them with “forming a protest group on WhatsApp to take up arms against the government” — allegations the organisation dismissed as “bizarre and baseless.”
“Right now, seven persons languish in jail in Maiduguri after being convicted to, among others, five years in prison over the #EndBadGovernance protests,” Amnesty said.
“These outrageous convictions are a blatant attempt to silence these youths. They have done absolutely nothing wrong but are now paying a heavy price for daring to speak up against corruption, hunger and bad governance.”
The convicted youths were identified as Mohammed Ali; Mohammed Gajimi (alias Bakura), 17; Muhammed Mustapha (alias Gudusu), 14; Muhammed Mustapha (alias Abbas), 15; Muhammed Kyari (alias Mome); Muhammed Bukar (alias Awana); and Ibrahim Muhammed (alias Babayo).
While some of them were sentenced to public flogging and community service, others were handed five years’ imprisonment.
The #EndBadGovernance protests, which rocked major cities between August 1 and 10, 2024, saw thousands of young Nigerians take to the streets to vent frustration over rising inflation, food shortages, insecurity and corruption.
Similar to the 2020 #EndSARS demonstrations, the protests gained momentum through hashtags such as #EndHunger and #EndCorruption, but were met with violent crackdowns.
Amnesty International reported that at least 24 protesters were killed after security agents opened fire with live ammunition.
Despite such reports, the Federal Government has maintained that the demonstrations were hijacked by “subversive elements” seeking to destabilise the country.
Civil society organisations have, however, continued to describe the clampdown as a dangerous criminalisation of peaceful dissent.
Amnesty warned that the convictions in Borno were a deliberate attempt to instill fear among young Nigerians.
“The Borno State government must quash these convictions immediately, and the Nigerian authorities must uphold the constitutional right to freedom of expression and assembly,” the organisation insisted.
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