Taiwo Popoola
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice AGF, Lateef Fagbemi has again clarified that no law in Nigeria prohibits the trial of minors for criminal offences in the country.
Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN insisted that termination of treason charges against some minors over their involvement in violent protests was done on compassionate grounds.
The Justice Minister spoke on Monday at the Supreme Court during a valedictory session in honour of a late Justice of the apex court, Emmanuel Ayoola.
He said “My Lords, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in the light of the needless controversy generated by the arraignment of minors on treason charges based on strong evidence that security agencies possess on the protest, we can all imagine the jurisprudential insight that the late Justice Ayoola would posit in relation to the claim that minors cannot be charged for serious criminal offences.
“For emphasis, I must restate that no law in this country says a minor cannot be tried. The provisions of our Constitution and our various laws leave you no other conclusion than that the Federal High Court has jurisdiction in matters bothering treason and related issues, irrespective of the age of the offender.
“While we are fully aware of laws, policies and principles that guide the criminal justice system, which prioritizes the welfare of children in conflict with the law, that in itself does not in any way exclude trial of children for serious crimes.
” It is in this regard that we have to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for terminating the trial of the children on compassionate grounds.
Fagbemi paid glowing tribute to the late Justice Ayoola, a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission ICPC for his courage and boldness while on the bench of Nigeria’s judiciary.
“As a legal practitioner, the late Justice Ayoola was phenomenal in advocacy and was part of an exceptional dominant group of legal practitioners of his generation appointed on the bench purely on the basis of their extraordinary abilities and achievements.
‘As a judge, late Justice Ayoola was one of the very few gifted with a temperament most suited for the bench, which he effectively and efficiently deployed in the service of humanity”, he said.
