The federal government is set to arraign 76 individuals, including minors, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court for participating in the dayslong #EndHunger protests in August.
Many of the defendants appeared emaciated after over two months in detention. Security officers assisted four individuals out of the courtroom as they were too weak to stand.
Protesters arraigned were picked up from different states, including Abuja, Kano, Plateau, Kaduna, Gombe and Katsina.
Among those facing trial were Umar Musa, 15; Muhammadu Mustapha, 16; Awolu Abdulahi, 21; Nura Ibrahim, 24; and Abdulbasi Abdusalami, 34.
The protests arose in response to Nigeria’s worsening economic hardship under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, as citizens criticised his policies for failing to alleviate hunger and hardship.
Fuel prices have surged from under N150 per litre when Mr Tinubu took office to N1,065 per litre, contributing to rising costs of other goods and services.
Although the minimum wage was recently raised to N70,000 ($42) after strikes by labour unions, it has yet to be implemented across all states.
Desperately opposing the protest, security agencies under Mr Tinubu’s government fired live ammunition at journalists and protesters at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja, where two reporters for Peoples Gazette escaped getting shot by a whisker.
