Headfort Foundation, a prison reform organisation, has recounted how Alabi Oladimeji, a resident of Ojodu Berger, Lagos, spent a year at the Kirikiri prison.
In a tweet on Thursday, the organisation said Oladimeji and another person got into an altercation which led to a fight between them.
Headfort said some officers from the Iju Police Station who came to interfere in the issue after someone called them arrested the duo and took them for questioning.
“To his dismay, the other person he fought with turned out to be the complainant who had filed a complaint against him,” said Headfort. “Oladimeji informed the police that he had never had any issue with the said complainant before.”
Headfort said that although his bail was perfected, in April 2021, Oladimeji and another person were charged for the offences of affray and stealing.
The foundation said that in March 2022, Oladimeji met Eniola Omosehin, one of their lawyers, and she represented him in court. Omosehin researched the matter and found that the court put the case off several times because the witnesses weren’t there and his casemate wasn’t available.
“Omosehin sent a reproduction warrant to medium and maximum Kirikiri facilities and the report given was that the second defendant was not in their custody,” Headfort said.
“Further search showed that while they were still in police custody, they released the second defendant while they left Alabi behind.”
Headfort stated that on June 10, 2022, the court granted Omosehin’s prayers and struck out the charges against Oladimeji.
“He spent one year before regaining freedom,” Headfort stated.
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