There was a drama at a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, as no fewer than four children, among the 76 defendants, billed for arraignment over their involvement in the August #EndBadGovernance protest held across the country, slumped during their trial.

Recall the protest, which began on Aug. 1 to demand for good governance, ended on Aug. 10.

The Inspector-General (I-G) of Police had, earlier charged 11 of the protesters before Justice Emeka Nwite of a sister court on alleged treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony and inciting mutiny, among others, which are punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.

The protesters were arrested in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Gombe over the 10-day protest which resulted in violence and killings in parts of the country.

However, when the matter was called on Friday, I-G’s lawyer, Audu Garba, informed the court that the matter was slated for arraignment of the 76 defendants, who had been in detention.

Shortly after they were called into the dock to take their plea, four of the children slumped in the open court.

The four of them were Usman Fatihu (21 years), Muhammed Yahaya (14 years), Muktar Ishak Alhassan (16 years) and Mustapha Ibrahim (18 years).

They are 68th, 74th, 75th, and76th defendants respectively in the 10-count charge bordering on treason, among other offences.

The trial judge, Obiora Egwuatu, abruptly stood down the trial and rose.

Justice Egwuatu came back after some minutes later to continue with the trial

No fewer than 14 passengers narrowly escaped death by a whisker while the driver sustained a minor injury when the bus they were travelling in suddenly went up in flames along the Old Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Our correspondent gathered on Thursday that the incident, which happened on Wednesday, created panic and heavy gridlock on the bridge for several hours as passers-by and firefighters battled to quench the inferno.

The vehicle, a Toyota Hiace bus, was said to be heading to Asaba, Delta State when it suddenly caught up in flames in the middle of the bridge.

An eyewitness near the scene and trader in the area, who identified himself as Obiora Uzor, said the passengers had managed to jump out of the bus one after the other before the fire finally engulfed the whole vehicle.

Although no life was lost in the inferno, the eyewitness, however, noted that the driver was not lucky enough as he was affected by the flames, which started from the front of the vehicle.

“The bus suddenly went up in flames while in motion and caused panic on the bridge as the passengers struggled to escape having been caught up by the fire. No one knew the cause of the fire.

“It caused a heavy gridlock to and fro the bridge as motorists and other passersby were battling to extinguish the fire before the arrival of firefighters who later controlled the inferno,” the witness added.

When contacted, the Media and Publicity Unit of the Anambra State Fire Service, confirmed the incident, in a statement on Thursday.

The statement read, “The Anambra State Fire Service on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, received a distress alert at 0930 hours reporting of a vehicle (bus) engulfed by fire along the Bridge-head, Onitsha.

“A crew of firemen and firefighting equipment were immediately deployed to the rescue. They extinguished the fire and ensured that it did not affect other vehicles that were plying the bridge.

“The cause of the incident is unknown. No life was lost. The public was advised to alert the fire service in time whenever there is a fire incident and to install fire extinguishers in their vehicles. Remember, fire kills but, we can prevent it.”

It said the firefighters left the scene in the afternoon after extinguishing the fire.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene on Thursday evening observed that the vehicle, burnt beyond recognition, was still at the scene of the incident, but pushed to a corner at the bridge to prevent an obstruction of movement.

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A female doctor, Ganiyat Popoola, who was kidnapped on December 27, 2023, has regained her freedom after 10 months in captivity.

A registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, Popoola, was abducted along with her husband and nephew.

Her husband was released in March, while Popoola and her nephew remained in captivity.

Popoola’s kidnapping had sparked widespread outrage, particularly among the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), which went on strike in August to press for their colleague’s release.

The President, Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Tope Osundara in a statement, confirmed the release of Popoola and her nephew .