By Desire Emmanuel
Two men who spent over two months in prison custody after they were charged to court for allegedly stealing plantain and pineapple in a farm in Ekiti State have now been discharged and acquitted by a court in the state.
The men, known simply as Adefisayo and Olamilekan, were arrested in January this year in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, taken into custody by the police and arraigned before the Magistrates’ Court on a three-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful entry into farmland and stealing.
They were said to have pleaded not guilty to the charges and following their non-guilty plea, they were granted bail in the sum of ₦50,000 with one surety each.
However, due to their inability to meet the bail conditions, they were ordered remanded at the Ado Ekiti prison where they remained in custody for over two months.
Their plight got the attention of an advocacy group that usually visits prisons and courts in the country, the Headfort Foundation for Justice, and after hearing about their matter, one of the lawyers of the foundation decided to take up the case and started representing them in court.
The foundation announced their freedom in a post on its X handle on Friday, March 27.
However, when the case came up twice at the magistrates’ court, it was discovered that there was no complainant in the matter and no witness appeared in court.
So on March 20 during one of the court sessions, the police prosecutor told the magistrate that he could not reach the complainant as well as the witness and asked that the matter be struck out. The lawyer also told the court that the matter should be struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
The court granted the request, struck out the case, discharged and acquitted Adefisayo and Olamilekan after spending over two months in prison custody. The two men have now become free men.
