A man who spent four years in prison custody after policemen arrested him and charged him for an offence he knew nothing about has now regained his freedom.
The man, whose name was given simply as Olushina, worked as a butcher at an abattoir in Lagos.
It was gathered that on August 26, 2022, he had finished work for the day and was preparing to go home when mobile policemen stormed the abattoir following a report that a man was robbed in the area. They subsequently arrested some butchers, including Olushina.
They were taken to a Mobile Police barracks before being transferred to the SARS office in Ikeja where the other butchers were eventually released after paying for their bail.
Olushina was said to be the only one left behind because he could not afford to pay for his bail.
On August 29, 2022, three days after his arrest, Olushina was arraigned on a one-count charge of armed robbery. Since the charge was a capital offence, he was remanded in prison without the option of bail where he remained without legal representation.
On May 15, 2025, his 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 him, one of the lawyers took up the case and began to represent him in court.
The lawyer found out that there was no legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the case file, and the case could not properly proceed without it.
“When we made enquiries, we were repeatedly informed that Olushina had already been arraigned before the High Court. However, our checks at the High Court revealed that there was no record of him ever being arraigned,” the foundation said in a post on its X handle on Friday, July 24.
Refusing to give up, the lawyer continued engaging the relevant authorities, including the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Commissioner of Police, while bringing these inconsistencies to the attention of the court.
When it became clear that the matter remained unresolved, the lawyer also wrote to the Chief Judge and the Chief Registrar of Lagos State, requesting their intervention.
Further investigations eventually confirmed that Olushina had no pending case before any High Court in Lagos State. Following these findings, the Chief Judge was said to have directed that the matter be relisted.
On July 7, 2026, at the hearing of the case, the lawyer urged the court to strike out the case for want of diligent prosecution. The judge granted the request, struck out the case and ordered Olushina’s discharge after spending four years in prison custody.
