29 children could be sentenced to death for protesting Nigeria's cost of living crisis

ABUJA, Nigeria
CNN
—

Twenty-nine children could face the death penalty in Nigeria after being charged on Friday over their participation in a protest against the country's record-breaking cost of living crisis. Four of them collapsed from exhaustion in court before they could file a lawsuit.

A total of 76 protesters were charged with 10 felony counts, including treason, criminal damage, public disorder and mutiny, according to the indictment seen by The Associated Press.

According to the indictment, the minors were between 14 and 17 years old.

Frustration over the cost of living crisis has led to several mass protests in recent months. In August, at least 20 people were shot and hundreds more arrested at a protest demanding better opportunities and jobs for young people.

The death penalty was introduced in Nigeria in the 1970s, but there have been no executions since 2016.

Akintayo Balogun, an Abuja-based private lawyer, said the Child Rights Act does not allow criminal proceedings against a child and sentence to death.

“So bringing minors into federal court is wrong from the start unless the government can prove that the boys are all over 19,” Balogun said.

The court ultimately granted each defendant 10 million naira ($5,900) bail and imposed strict conditions that they have yet to meet, said Marshal Abubakar, the lawyer for some of the boys.

“A country that has a duty to educate its children will decide to punish those children. “These children have been detained for 90 days without food,” Abubakar said.

Yemi Adamolekun, executive director of Enough is Enough, a civil society organization that promotes good governance in Nigeria, said authorities had no business prosecuting children.

“The Chief Justice of Nigeria should be ashamed, she is a woman and a mother,” Adamolekun said.

Despite being one of Africa's largest producers of crude oil, Nigeria remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Chronic corruption means that the lifestyle of its officials rarely matches that of the general population. Doctors often go on strike in protest against meager wages.

The country's politicians and lawmakers, often accused of corruption, are among the best paid in Africa. Even the president's wife – whose office is nowhere in the Constitution – is entitled to SUVs and other luxury goods financed by taxpayers.

Nigeria's population, at over 210 million, is the largest on the continent and also among the hungriest in the world, and the government is struggling to create jobs. The inflation rate is also at its highest in 28 years and the local naira currency is at a record low against the dollar.

On Thursday, Nigeria was classified as a “high concern hotspot” in a report by the United Nations' food agencies, with large numbers of people in the West African country facing or likely to face critical levels of acute food insecurity.