9 EndSARS Protesters Regain Freedom after 2 Years in Detention

Reports received on Tuesday evening say that 9 people arrested and detained in relation to the #EndSARS protest of 2020 were released today.

The release of the protesters from the Oyo Agodi Prison was confirmed by an activist and the Oyo State leader of the Take It Back (TIB) Movement, Solomon Emiola.

The activist stated that his movement have been agitating for the release of the 9 protesters from the Oyo prison told Punch.

Happy about result of their efforts, Emiola said, “We are just returning from the prison, the 9 of them have gone home with their families.”

Reports say that their release was against the backdrop of the call by Oyo State Chief Judge, Justice Munga Abimbola who ordered the release of 58 detainees who had spent long periods in the state prisons.

Justice Abimbola on Monday declared that prolonged detention was a breach of people’s constitutional rights, reiterating that the stand of the law is that a “person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

The CJ made this declaration at the Agodi Custodial Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service, which he visited, as part of a three-day tour of prisons within the state.

Listed among the 9 protesters released are Adeshina Muyiwa, Ikechuckwu Eze, Ariyo Sodiq, Ikenna Amaechi, Oyewole Olumide, Ariyo Afeez, Taoreed Abiodun, Adekunle Moruf, and Rasheed Tiamiyu.

The protesters were said to be charged with offences ranging from murder to stealing police rifles and setting the police station ablaze, among others, in connection to the 2020 protest against the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria Force.