Amnesty International said a total of fifteen protesters arrested during the #EndSARS protest of 2020 are still being arbitrarily detained three years later.
The international organisation on Friday said in a statement on its website that the majority of the protesters are in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos without trial.
The organisation also accused the authorities of filing trumped-up charges including theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder against many of the protesters
“Our investigation shows the Nigerian authorities’ utter disdain for human rights. Three years in detention without trial is a travesty of justice. This shows the authorities’ contempt for due process of law. The protesters must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Isa Sanusi Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
It listed seven #EndSARS protesters, Daniel Joy-Igbo, Sodiq Adigun, Sunday Okoro, Olumide Fatai, Oluwole Isa, Shehu Anas, and Akiniran Oyetakin to have been arbitrarily held in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.
While another eight protesters, Segun Adeniyi, Onuorah Odih, Jeremiah Lucky, Gideon Ikwujomah, Irinyemi Olorunwanbe, Quadri Azeez, Olamide Lekan and Sadiq Riliwan, according to the organisation, are currently detained without trial in Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos since 2020.
One of those detained, Daniel Joy-Igbo, a Beninois, arrested in Lagos in October 2020, told Amnesty International that he had been detained at the Bar Beach Police Station, the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, and at a SARS facility in Ikeja.
“Since my arraignment in December 2020, I have been locked up in the prison without trial. Since then, there has been no adjourned date for my case. I have not been taken to court since December 2020,” he said
Sodiq Adigun, also arrested in October 2020, who was previously detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti said, “Let the government release me. I have been detained since 2020 without trial. I am innocent. My life has been shattered. I need my liberty,” he said
