In June 2020, the police in Lagos arrested Samuel, an electrician, during a raid in Ikeja, and charged him with crimes he did not commit.

In a Twitter post, the HeadFort Foundation, a human rights organisation, said that after his arrest, some prison officials mistook him for a sexual assault offender in prison.

HeadFort said the Ogba Magistrate Court granted Samuel bail after the police arraigned him before the court, but he remained in detention because he could not perfect his bail.

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“Until he met Eniola Omosehin, a lawyer with Headfort Foundation’s ‘Lawyers Without Border’ project, on February 20, 2021, he made no headway and remained in custody,” HeadFort said.

The foundation said Omosehin secured his freedom on December 20, 2021, at the Magistrate Court in Ogba. But while they allowed others to go home, they held Samuel back. They took him back to custody, insisting he had another case of sexual assault at the High Court.

“After a thorough investigation, our lawyer discovered Samuel was not the defendant in the matter at the High Court. They only mistook him there because he bears the same name as the defendant,” said Headfort.

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On February 4, 2022, Omosehin represented Samuel at the High Court and informed the court about the case of mistaken identity. According to HeadFort, the prosecution counsel corroborated the submission.

HeadFort said the court cross-checked its records and verified that Samuel was not the accused person in the case before the High Court. They ordered his release immediately.

Samuel spent one year and eight months in custody before gaining his freedom.