By Desire Emmanuel
A lady who was sent to prison custody after her husband bolted with a loan she collected from her place of work for him has now regained her freedom after two months.
Incidentally, the lady, who is nursing a five-month-old child at the time she was arrested, had to spend her days in prison custody with the child.
The lady, whose name was given simply as Rolake, aged 27 years, was a sales representative of a company in Lagos (names withheld) that sells phones to customers on installment and also gives loans to people.
It was gathered that early in December 2025, her husband asked her to take loan from the company, promising to repay within one month.
Due to the trust she had for the man, she collected N250,000 loan and gave it to him. The man reportedly thereafter disappeared and she has not seen him since then.
She therefore landed in trouble as the company brought police to arrest her on January 31 this year. She spent a day in police custody with her child and was subsequently arraigned on February 2 at the Ogba Magistrates’ Court for stealing and obtaining money by false pretence.
She was said to have pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court granted her N50,000 bail with one surety in like sum.
However, due to her inability to meet the bail conditions, she was sent to Kirikiri female prison custody where she stayed for two months with her child.
Her plight got to the attention of an advocacy group that usually visits prisons and courts in Lagos, the Headfort Foundation for Justice, and after hearing from her, one of the lawyers from the foundation took up her case and started representing her in court.
The foundation announced the matter on its X handle on Friday, April 3, saying efforts were made to resolve the matter, including attempt to pay back the money, but the family could not afford to pay back while the whereabouts of the husband remained unknown.
It was also gathered that during trials, the prosecution repeatedly failed to present the complainant and on the day of last hearing, the prosecutor again told the court that the complainant was absent and requested for another adjournment.
The lawyer kicked against another adjournment, urging the court to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution.
The court granted the request, struck out the case, discharged and acquitted Rolake after spending two months in Kirikiri.
