KEY POINTS

• Governor Abba Yusuf reunited 76 minors arrested during the #Endbadgovernance protest in Kano with their parents.
• The minors underwent rehabilitation before being released from detention.
• The state government emphasized prioritizing education and warned against violent protests.

Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf has reunited 76 minors arrested in connection with #EndBadGovernance protest with their families. The handover ceremony, which took place yesterday, was presided over by the governor, through his Chief of Staff, Shehu Sagagi.

Both minors had been awaiting rehabilitation at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital in Kano following their release from the Abuja detention.

The Stance of Government with regards protests

Governor Yusuf told the handover that the state government would not accept violent protests.

“We are not telling anybody to join protests that involve violent actions,” he said. That, the state government will not condone.

‘We’ve never in the history of this country witnessed such a deadly protest as the one seen in Kano.’ It is solely because of a lack of education.

‘We as government are aware that citizens need to be educated and have gainful employment,’ he insisted. “We go the bonanza to the sector, and we are billed as the highest (federal state) in terms of allocation that we have made in education.

On our own, we have allocated 31 percentage, more than any state in Nigeria and more than the 25% recommended by the United Nations,” the state has made education its top priority.

Governor Yusuf urged parents to inculcate responsibility in their children and condemned those using parent bodies to raise funds wrongfully. He made sure that the all donations collected are given out transparently.

Warnings from legal perspectives

“When you are engaging in peaceful process, you can lawfully carry out peace protest; but when you make movement to disrupt, to cause any kind of violence, that is a crime,” said Hamza Nuhu, the leader of the team of lawyers who drove for the release of the minors.

He urged the teenagers to participate in constructive and peaceful attempts instead of disruptive protests.

Allegations denied by minors

Abba Usman, one of the released teenagers, who spoke on behalf of the minors, said they were wrongly arrested. He said none of us was found with a weapon or involved in vandalism.

Speaking on behalf of other parents, Nura Ahmad commended the federal and state governments, as well as other stakeholders, for securing the release of the children and rehabilitation before being reunited with their families.