By Desire Emmanuel
A labourer who was remanded at the Kirikiri prison custody in Lagos State for demanding his wages from his supervisor and spent five months there has now regained his freedom.
The man, simply known as Chima, worked as a labourer at a construction site at a place in Lagos and his primary job was scaffolding but he often took on additional tasks including sourcing and carrying building materials in order to earn more wages.
However, trouble began for him on January 10 this year when, after completing his scaffolding duties, he was asked by his supervisor to carry out other tasks including transporting iron rods.
Already angry because his wages had not been paid, Chima questioned his supervisor when the man complained that he had brought more iron rods than were needed.
The argument between them escalated as the supervisor accused him of bringing excess iron rods because he wanted to steal them while Chima accused the supervisor of using the accusation as an excuse not to pay him, insisting on getting his wages that day.
The supervisor called policemen to the site and Chima was arrested. He was later charged to court, accused of conspiracy and stealing. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was subsequently granted bail.
However, due to his inability to meet the bail conditions, he was ordered to be remanded in Kirikiri prison custody where he stayed till May 29.
His plight got to the attention of an advocacy group, the Headfort Foundation for Justice, and on hearing from him, one of the lawyers of the foundation took up his case and began to represent him in court.
The foundation announced the development on its X handle on Friday, June 12, saying that the lawyer engaged with the complainant who indicated that he is no longer interested in pursuing the case and repeatedly failed to appear in court.
After weeks of adjournments, the lawyer urged the court to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution. The court granted the request, struck out the case, discharged and acquitted Chima after spending five months in prison custody.
