A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Wuse zone 2, Abuja, on Wednesday granted bail to five #EndSARS protesters bail after they were arrested by security forces at the National Assembly as they were rounding off their protest demanding widespread governmental reforms.
Also granted bail was one female journalist, Oluwatosin Adeniji, who was covering the demonstration last Friday.
The six are to appear in court on January 25, 2020, for trial.
The five male protesters were identified as Yaziru Bashiru, Abdulsalam Suberu, Kabiru Gazali, Paul Akinwunmi, and Davo Chomo.
Chief Magistrate, Abdulrazak Eneye, granted the six youths bail after hearing the application by their counsel.
Lawyer for the remanded six, Tope Akinyode, had presented an oral application, seeking the court to grant them bail.
However, the magistrate in charge of their case decided to strike out the lawyer’s oral application for bail, instead of demanding that they present a written request.
 The six youths were granted bail in the sum of N50,000 each, with a surety for each person. The chief magistrate stated that sureties would sign a bail bond of N50,000 each for the youths.
Last week, the court had remanded the five protesters, one journalist, on “allegations of unlawful assembly and wanting to distort the societal peace.”
However, the defence counsel, Tope Akinyode, said the allegations were “clearly trumped-up charges because the protesters protested in accordance with the law.”
Peaceful protests are constitutional in Nigeria. However, the police are known to use force to disperse mass demonstrations that are against the interest of Federal authorities.