Abiodun Abass, an Ibadan trader simply identified as Owonikoko, has lifted the lids on his prison ordeal after spending 29 years and eight months behind the bar for following a masquerade.
In an emotional video shared by Vanguard, Owonikoko begged Nigerians to come to his aid as things have nosedived since he was granted a presidential pardon by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020.
Owonikoko, who was selling rice, beans and other petty trade before his arrest, said he is currently left alone contemplating suicide as all his children and wife passed away.
The trader’s life took a tragic turn in 1993 when he was invited by his friend to follow him to watch a masquerade in the Oje area in Ibadan.
But in a sudden turn of events, a fracas broke out between the masquerade he supported and an antagonist, leading to the death of some followers.
” I never thought it was something that serious until the policemen from the Mokola unit came to my house and arrested my sister as my replacement. I handed myself to the police for my sister to be released. I was thrown to the bar and tortured beyond the limit.
“We were seven that were arrested but four died in police custody due to excessive torture. I spent 1 year in police detention before the judge sentenced me to death,” he narrated .
Owonikoko said he learned Arabic in prison and he taught hundreds of inmates. Having seen his positive attitude change, the late former governor of Oyo state, Alao Akala, reduced his death sentence to life imprisonment before he was given a pardon by the president in 2020.
The trader, who is now above 60 years said he has since then been living a miserable life with no further hope, having wasted his youth behind the bar.
He called on kind-hearted Nigerians to help me as he has lost family members including kids, wife, father and mother as a victim of circumstances.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been showing a willingness to help the former inmate.
