Published 3rd Apr, 2022

By Emmanuel Uti

Headfort Foundation, a prison reform organisation in Nigeria, has recounted how Daniel Igbah, an Obafemi Awolowo University graduate, spent over five months in prison for committing no crime.

In a phone conversation with FIJ, Headfort said Igbah did not commit a crime but was made a scapegoat.

Igbah was at his post on November 14, 2021, when he had the urge to visit the restroom. He then asked his supervisor to man his duty post in his place. Still in the restroom, Headfort said, people alarmed Igbah that a thief had cut off a cable wire. He dashed out and, together with the other security guards, chased the thief who escaped through the fence.

“The following day, the head of the depot security team asked Igbah to follow him to the Apapa Police Station. Although the thief left the wires behind, the security head wanted him to file a complaint. At the station, the security head alleged that Igbah was the thief. He insisted the police detain and prosecute him,” Headfort said.

“The police detained Igbah in their station and charged him to court. He was later remanded in Ikoyi Prison. He could perfect his bail but could not engage a lawyer because he had no money left.”

Headfort said the prosecutor referred Igbah to their mobile office at Ebute-Meta, where he met Juliet Mma, the Headfort Foundation lawyer who would take his brief.

Headfort said Mma’s findings showed that the security head had reported Daniel because he needed someone to be held accountable. He said this was according to the company’s policy.

“On March 21, 2022, his third appearance at the Ebute-Meta Court, Juliet Mma secured his release. The court discharged and acquitted him,” Headfort said.

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