By Daniel Akande

The Solidarity Network for Workers’ Rights (SNWR) expresses deep worry and outrage at the growing contradiction and pettiness between the actions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government and its supposed commitment to justice, fairness, and democratic principles. In recent weeks, the administration granted presidential clemency to a batch of convicts that reportedly includes individuals found guilty of kidnapping, murder, and other violent crimes. While this act of pardon was presented as an exercise of compassion and rehabilitation, it exposes the hypocrisy of a regime that continues to prosecute patriotic Nigerians for peacefully protesting against its harsh and anti-people capitalist economic policies.

Across the country, many Nigerians who took part in the #EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024 among which Comrade Daniel Akande, have been arraigned and are still being tried for offences as grave as treasonable felony and subversion. These are citizens who did not take up arms, who did not commit any act of violence, but merely exercised their democratic right to engage in civil protest demanding an end to policies that have driven millions into hunger and abject poverty. Yet, instead of being heard and respected, they have been met with arrests, intimidation, and criminalisation. The same government that shows mercy to convicted killers is unwilling to show understanding and justice to peaceful protesters. Tinubu did not even yield to their fundamental demands to end hunger and mass poverty in Nigeria.

This inversion of justice is a stain on the conscience of the Nigerian state and its fragile democracy.

The August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests were a direct response to worsening economic hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy, devaluation of the naira, and skyrocketing cost of living. Rather than address these grievances, the government deployed the machinery of repression against citizens. Hundreds were killed, while others were arrested, including students, workers, and activists. Several were charged with treasonable offences that carry the death penalty, a clear attempt to silence legitimate dissent and instil fear among the suffering population. Legal experts and human rights defenders have repeatedly condemned these actions, describing them as politically motivated and unconstitutional.

Interestingly, the police prosecutor originally acting on behalf of the state in this sham trial was later found guilty of mismanagement and age falsification and his currently undergoing trail himself. This alone shows the hypocritical nature of the Tinubu Regime and the character of those manning the organs of the Nigeria state and his unpatriotic approach to most fundamental national issues that affect directly the working class and the poor peasants.

In contrast, the decision to free convicted kidnappers and murderers sends a dangerous message that violent criminality can be forgiven while peaceful dissent will be punished. It undermines public confidence in the justice system and betrays the victims of heinous crimes. It also exposes the selective and class-based nature of the Nigerian justice system where mercy is reserved for the well-connected while ordinary citizens are treated with cruelty for speaking truth to power.

SNWR views this development as part of a broader pattern of authoritarianism that seeks to delegitimize all forms of protest and peaceful assembly and association. We recall that in November 2024, a Federal High Court struck out treason charges against some protesters mostly the minors, indicating that many of the cases were baseless. Yet others remain in detention or face re-arraignment, showing that the state is more interested in vengeance than justice.

 It is shameful that those who risked their lives to demand accountability are treated as enemies of the state while criminals are rewarded with clemency. While the #EndBadGovernance activists are not demanding for any presidential clemency, they are diligently demanding for justice and a speed in the process of the court proceedings including the hearing of this sham trial which the state including the police prosecutor and the judge (justice Nwite) has continued to foot drag and by so doing delaying and denying justice to those unfairly being tried for treason. Moreso the case has been unreasonably adjourned four times already and yet, the justice Nwite has refused to present himself in the court on any of the occasion, this past October 9th the case was again re-adjouned to December 10th, 2025.

We therefore call on the Federal Government to immediately and unconditionally drop all politically motivated charges against #EndBadGovernance protesters and all other Nigerians facing prosecution for exercising their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and free expression. All detainees held in connection with the protests should be released without delay. The government must also make public the full details of those granted clemency and the criteria used in the selection process. Nigerians deserve to know why murderers and kidnappers are being forgiven while peaceful activists remain behind bars.

Furthermore, we demand an independent review of the clemency process to ensure that it was not used to shield politically connected criminals or to serve private interests. The Federal Government must also prosecute security agents responsible for abuses against peaceful demonstrators and compensate the victims of police brutality and unlawful detention.

 Justice cannot exist where the state selectively enforces the law to protect its own and punish dissenters.

We in the Solidarity Network for Workers’ Rights therefore reaffirm its commitment to defending the rights of Nigerian workers, youth, and the oppressed masses against capitalist oppression and state reckless persecution. We stand firmly with all those who have been persecuted for demanding a better society. We will continue to mobilize solidarity, provide legal support to detained comrades, and expose every act of injustice and hypocrisy committed by the ruling class. The government cannot build legitimacy on the persecution of its citizens. There can be no genuine peace without justice and no democracy without the right to protest.

The act of granting clemency to violent offenders while keeping patriotic Nigerians on treason trials is a disgrace to the nation and a betrayal of the ideals of justice. History will not forget those who punished the poor for demanding bread while freeing those who spilled innocent blood.

 SNWR calls on all progressive forces, labour unions, students’ movements, and civil society organizations to rise in united condemnation of this travesty and to demand immediate justice for all persecuted activists. Nigeria belongs to the people, not to a few corrupt elites who use the instruments of state to protect themselves and oppress the majority.