Ibukun Ayodele, a 17-year-old girl detained over last year’s #EndSARS protests, continues to languish at the Surulere Prison, Akure, Ondo State.
Ibukun is one of the teenagers detained since October, accused by the state of burning the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Akure. Other teenagers detained for the same reason are 21-year-old Samuel Ojo and 18-year-old Kemisola Ogunniyi.
As of October 2020, Ibukun was just 17 and three months pregnant, according to Iyabo Ayodele, her mother. But as a result of the cruelty and torture by the soldiers and the distress of being held in the police cell and prison, Ibukun suffered a miscarriage that has left her in pains.
“She is not being given any medical attention,” Balogun Segun, her boyfriend who is responsible for the pregnancy, told FIJ. “In fact, the foetus inside her hasn’t been flushed out as I talk to you. She needs help.”
On June 16, Kemisola, one of the teenage detainees in the Akure Prison, was delivered of a baby. The birth of her child in detention triggered public outrage, with many Nigerians demanding her swift and unconditional release from detention.
Following the public outrage, she was granted bail by a “trial judge in the Ondo State High Court”. The baby delivered by Kemisola in prison was christened and celebrated by notable Nigerians such as Naomi Ogunwusi, the wife of the Ooni of Ife.
Ibukun would have also birthed in the prion if she didn’t have a miscarriage. Her mother is worried her daughter’s case might have been forgotten, and has begged the public to look into the matter.
“I’m afraid something might go wrong with her in prison due to her health condition,” she said. “Help me beg the public not to forget her there.”
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