Five men arrested in Maiduguri, Borno State, over T-shirts bearing the inscription “Tinubu Must Go” have been charged to court, prompting Amnesty International to demand their immediate release and accuse the authorities of criminalising peaceful political dissent.
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The five men were identified as Baba Aji Gremami, Mustapha Abba Yemen, Abacha Mohammed Ali, Adam Umar Gubio and Abdulhamid Mohammed. Amnesty International had initially raised the alarm over their arrest and detention, saying they were taken into custody by operatives of the Borno State Police Command for wearing the T-shirts in Maiduguri.
Subsequent information from the charge documents shows that the men have been accused of criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance, disturbance of public peace and thuggery.
According to charges reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, the prosecution alleged that the five men conspired to print T-shirts bearing the words “Tinubu Must Go” with an alleged intention to cause a breach of public peace around the West End Roundabout Community in Maiduguri.
The alleged offences were brought under Sections 60, 78, 79 and 392 of the Borno State Penal Code Law. The accusations remain allegations and have not been determined by a court.
Amnesty International, however, strongly criticised the arrests and prosecution, maintaining that the expression of political opposition through clothing does not, without more, amount to a criminal offence.
“Hurriedly remanding them in prison and accusing them bizarrely of ‘the intent to cause breach of public peace within West End Roundabout Community Maiduguri’ simply for wearing a t-shirt with a message of political dissent is not a crime,” the rights organisation said.
It added that asserting political opposition forms part of the exercise of human rights and called on the authorities to release the men and abandon what it described as plans to prosecute them on unjustified charges.
Amnesty also argued that the right to express a political opinion should not depend on affiliation with a particular political party.
“The right to show and express political opinion is not exclusive to only one political party,” the organisation said.
It accused the Borno State Government and police of increasingly using arrests and detention against opposition political actors and supporters, a claim which the state government and police had not publicly responded to in connection with this case at the time of reporting.
According to Amnesty, authorities in the state were resorting to what it described as a familiar pattern of using criminal law against peaceful dissent.
It specifically urged Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration not to use the coercive powers of the state against political opponents and called on the government to respect freedom of expression, freedom of association and the rule of law.
“Authorities in Borno state have resorted to the familiar playbook of using the law to criminalize peaceful dissent and silence opposition,” Amnesty said.
The controversy comes at a politically sensitive period as political parties and support groups increase activities ahead of the 2027 general election.
The “Tinubu Must Go” slogan has also developed into a political campaign used by some critics and opposition figures against President Bola Tinubu.
On September 29, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, publicly endorsed the “Tinubu Must Go” movement after meeting one of its conveners, Abba Hikima, in Abuja. The campaign had earlier featured during protests held on June 12, 2026.
The Maiduguri case, however, turns on the specific allegations brought against the five defendants and whether the prosecution can establish the offences alleged in the charge.
The Nigerian Constitution protects freedom of expression, while such rights remain subject to restrictions permitted by law. Whether the conduct alleged against the defendants crossed the line from political expression into any of the criminal offences alleged by the police is therefore a matter for the court to determine.
Amnesty’s position is that the available circumstances amount to nothing more than the expression of political dissent and that the defendants should consequently not have been arrested or prosecuted.
The Borno State Police Command had not issued a formal public statement explaining the arrests or charges as of the latest reports.
Police spokesperson Nahum Daso was contacted by both TheCable and PREMIUM TIMES but had not responded to calls and messages at the time their reports were published.
The development therefore leaves two sharply different accounts: the prosecution alleges that the men’s conduct was connected to an intention to disturb public peace, while Amnesty International maintains that they were being punished for peaceful political expression.
No court has yet made a finding establishing the allegations contained in the charges.
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