By Elizabeth Godwin
David is a young motorcycle rider from Aramoko-Ekiti. His only “offence” was poverty.
On June 26, 2025, while carrying a passenger to Erio-Ekiti, police stopped him at a checkpoint. They asked, “What do you have for us?” When David pleaded that he had nothing, and his passenger tried to intervene, an argument followed. The police seized his motorcycle and told him to return the next day.
The next morning, when David went back, the police refused to release his motorcycle. Out of frustration, he spoke rudely — and that was all they needed to “deal with him.” His boss eventually recovered the motorcycle, but David was locked up.
At the Rapid Response Squad, he was told to pay ₦200,000 for bail. David had nothing close to that. So, they kept him in detention until he was dragged to court and accused of “assault and obstruction.” The magistrate granted him bail of ₦10,000 with a surety, but David could not afford it. He was sent to prison.
For two long months, David slept behind bars, not because he was guilty of any crime, but because he was poor. In total, he spent 66 days in unlawful incarceration — 5 days in police detention, 61 days in prison.
Then came hope. On August 27, 2025, David was rescued by Headfort Foundation for Justice. Our lawyer stepped in, spoke with the prosecutor, and got the charges withdrawn. David finally walked out of prison a free man.
His story is painful, but it is also the story of thousands of Nigerians whose freedom is stolen every day because they cannot pay bribes.
At Headfort Foundation for Justice, we fight for people like David — the forgotten, the voiceless, the poor — because justice should never depend on how much money you have in your pocket.
No one should spend even a day in prison for refusing to bribe the police.
