Panel Beater Spends 8 Years in Kirikiri For Not Assisting Soldiers on a Chase

Olarewaju Oladejo, a panel beater resident in Lagos State, who was arrested by Nigerian soldiers, has been freed by the Lagos State High Court.

On his way home from his workshop in the Alaba area of Lagos in May 2014, he was arrested by soldiers on a chase.

“In May 2014, I was arrested by some soldiers when I was going home from work. I asked them what my offence was and they said I didn’t help them prevent some people they were chasing,” Oladejo told Headfort Foundation, a prison reform organisation.

“The soldiers were chasing those people, and when they could not catch them, they came back and challenged me, asking why I didn’t help them to stop those people.

“Those people were running. I told the soldiers that neither did I know them nor the reason they were running. My response got them infuriated and they arrested me on the spot.

“I was taken to their barracks and the senior officers directed that I be handed over to the police at Orile Police Station. For reasons known to them, the police profiled me as an armed robbery suspect and moved me from Orile to SARS office, Ikeja, in the company of other suspects.

“When I couldn’t fulfill the bail conditions proffered by the Ikeja SARS office, they charged me to court for armed robbery.

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“That was how something I thought was going to be a case of mere mistaken identity became something beyond my control. I became helpless.”

According to a charge sheet obtained by FIJ, numbered LD/6125C/2017, dated November 22, 2017, and signed by T.K. Shitta-Bey (MS), Oladejo was arraigned in 2017.

His lawyer, Itunuoluwa Ruth Awolu, who works for Headfort Foundation, told FIJ that his case ran in court for years before the foundation took it up free of charge.

“He told us that one of the inmates at Kirikiri Correctional Centre told him about our foundation recently and he later established contact with us. He had a lawyer before, but that lawyer withdrew his appearance when his family could no longer pay,” said Awolu.

“After examining his case, we took it up pro bono. We then traced his case to Lagos State High Court TBS.

“When the matter came up for trial again on Tuesday, October 11, the prosecution could not produce any witness, as had been the case since his arraignment. The prosecution told the court that the witnesses they intended to call were police officers but they did not have their contact information yet.

“This gave us an enabling ground to apply to the court for the striking out of the charges against Oladejo, and the court granted our application.”

Awolu also told FIJ on phone that Oladejo is now undergoing medical treatment and not in good condition to speak with our reporter.

“At the moment, he is in the hospital for treatment. He has been languishing in prison since 2014 and his health has deteriorated. So, he will not be able to speak with you for now,” he said.

When FIJ requested to see the court ruling striking out the case, the lawyer said she could not provide it as it was yet to be made available to her by the court.

“The matter was just struck out on Tuesday, and the court has its procedures. It will take us some time before we would be able to obtain the certified true copy of the ruling,” she said.

Other suspects arraigned alongside Oladejo were Afolabi Ibrahim and Eric Okwaji.