By Desire Emmanuel
A woman who ended up in prison custody after she became stranded during a journey she embarked on has now regained her freedom.
The woman, whose name was given simply as Fatima, travelled from Ibadan, Oyo State, to Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, to visit a friend on March 30 this year.
However, on getting to Ado Ekiti, she could not reach the friend on phone and also did not know the address of the new house the friend had just moved into. With nowhere to go, she decided to spend the night in front of a lock-up shop.
Trouble however began for her when the owner of the shop arrived early the next the morning and questioned why she was in front of her shop. She was said to have explained her predicament.
It was gathered that when the woman was about to open the shop, the padlock fell off which made her to raise alarm, claiming that when she checked the items in her shop, some bottles of vegetable oil were missing.
A number of persons gathered and started beating her, asking about her mission in front of the shop. One of those gathered later called the police who were said to have raced to the scene.
The police searched her and despite the fact that no bottles of vegetable oil were found on her, they arrested her and took her to the station.
According to an advocacy group that usually visits prisons and courts, the Headfort Foundation for Justice, who wrote about the incident on its X handle on Friday, the woman was arraigned on April 2 this year on charges of shop breaking and stealing.
She was said to have pleaded not guilty and the court granted her bail in the sum of N50,000 and one surety. However, due to her inability to meet the bail conditions, she was remanded in prison custody.
Her plight got the attention of the foundation during one of its visits to prisons in the state and after hearing from her, a lawyer from the foundation decided to take up her case and began representing her in court.
However, during the periods the matter came up in court, the complainant refused to come to court to testify and the prosecution said she has shown no interest in pursuing the matter.
Based on this, the lawyer, on May 7, urged the court to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution. The court granted the prayer, discharged and acquitted Fatima after she had spent one month and six days in prison custody.
