Amnesty International has hailed the discharge and acquittal of Sunday Okoro, Olumide Fatai, and Oluwole Isa, who had been detained at Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre, Lagos state, for their involvement in the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.
Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay of the Lagos State High Court issued the order for their release following an extensive trial.
The trio had been wrongly charged with offences including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder, and had spent over three years and five months in detention at Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.
Prior to this, they were held at the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria Force facility in Lagos state.
Amnesty International has urged the Nigerian authorities to also release other individuals, including Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin, who were arrested in Lagos in 2020 and have been arbitrarily detained at Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre for over three years.
Additionally, peaceful #EndSARS protesters Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan, and Sadiq Riliwan have been held without trial at Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos since 2020.
Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Our investigations show that as of October last year 15 #EndSARS protesters were in detention since October 2020. The Nigerian authorities must provide information about the status of other #EndSARS protesters being held in various prisons across the country, grant their families and lawyers access to them, charge them to court, or release them from detention immediately.”
The rights organization denounced the human rights violations during the #EndSARS protests, highlighting a blatant disregard for the right to peaceful assembly.
It reiterated the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all individuals detained solely for participating in the peaceful #EndSARS protests.
Amnesty International stressed that the Nigerian authorities had a duty to uphold the right to peaceful protest, urging them to publicly direct security and law enforcement agencies to cease infringing upon the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
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