The arrest and prosecution of five men in Maiduguri, Borno State, over T-shirts bearing the inscription “Tinubu Must Go” has triggered a wider solidarity campaign, with supporters across the country adopting the same message and demanding their release.
The five men—Baba Aji Gremami, 44; Mustapha Abba Yemen, 28; Abbacha Mohammed Ali, 32; Adam Umar Gubio, 21; and Abdulhamid Mohammed, 21—were arrested on September 25 around the West End Roundabout in Maiduguri.
According to the police First Information Report dated September 29, the suspects allegedly acted together to produce and wear the shirts, with the prosecution accusing them of intending to cause a disturbance of public peace.
They were charged before Chief Magistrate Court I, Maiduguri, with criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance, disturbance of public peace and thuggery under sections 60, 78, 79 and 392 of the Borno State Penal Code.
The five pleaded not guilty.
Their lawyer subsequently applied for bail, but the court adjourned ruling on the application until October 6. The substantive case was fixed for October 26, while the defendants were remanded in a correctional facility pending the bail ruling.
The arrests have since moved beyond Maiduguri, with Nigerians in different locations wearing similar shirts and using the slogan, “Start arresting all of us,” in protest against what they describe as the criminalisation of political expression.
Amnesty International has also criticised the arrests, saying that wearing a shirt expressing political dissent should not constitute a crime, and called for the unconditional release of the five men and withdrawal of the charges.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar similarly called for their immediate release, arguing that a political slogan calling for change does not amount to a weapon or threat.
The Borno chapter of the African Democratic Congress also condemned the arrests, describing them as an attack on freedom of expression and urging the authorities to release the youths.
Police authorities, however, maintain that the case concerns alleged plans to disturb public peace rather than merely the message displayed on the shirts.
Claims in some reports that Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, personally directed the arrests have not been independently verified.
With the five men still in custody ahead of the October 6 bail ruling, the case has increasingly become a national debate over the limits of political expression and the treatment of dissent ahead of the 2027 elections.
