'T-Pain’: Timi Frank Asks Tinubu to Send Detained Minors to School, Not Prison

• Comrade Timi Frank has urged President Tinubu to release minors detained for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests
• The former deputy national publicity secretary of the APC lamented that the minors had spent over 90 days in detention under inhumane conditions,
• Frank criticised the government's handling of the situation, noting that Western countries prioritise rehabilitation over imprisonment for juvenile offenders

Abuja, FCT - Comrade Timi Frank, former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order the unconditional release of minors detained for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests.

Frank, in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Sunday, November 3, condemned the minors' alleged detention in an adult correctional facility among hardened criminals.

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He described the N10 million bail requirement as "judicial tyranny and cruelty to children" ¹.

Minors subjected to inhumane conditions

Frank lamented that the minors had spent over 90 days in detention under inhumane conditions and criticised the government's handling of the situation.

He noted that even those contributing to the country's problems are treated more leniently due to their financial resources.

The former APC chieftain stressed that Western countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), prioritise rehabilitation over imprisonment for juvenile offenders.

"Lack of fatherly love", Frank slams Tinubu

While appealing to Tinubu to release the minors and enrol them in school, Frank said the president's failure to act fast shows a lack of fatherly love and wickedness.

“For President Tinubu not to have ordered the release of these children since Friday but watched them sent to prison despite public outcry, shows heartlessness and lack of fatherly love and care for children," he said.

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He criticised the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi’s (SAN) delayed response, labelling it a "tactic to aggravate the trauma" faced by the children.

Frank also accused the judiciary of being compromised, prioritising corruption over justice.

“They have sold their conscience too. That's why a judge can post N10million and other stiff requirements as condition for each kid to be granted bail,” he said.

He said the only option for Nigerians is to prepare to stop this ‘T-Pain ProMax’ with their votes in 2027.

International community urged to intervene

Frank, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East, commended Nigerians who have equally condemned the action of the police, FHC and silence of the Presidpresidentalled on the international community and child’s rights advocates to come to the aid of these children and ensure they are released.

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Senator asks FG to release detained minors

In a related development, Hassan Ibrahim Dankwambo, the senator representing Gombe North, on Friday, November 1, strongly condemned the detention and maltreatment of the detained minors.

The former governor expressed deep concern after about four of the children collapsed, allegedly due to malnutrition, inside a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The development has caused public outrage.

Source: Legit.ng