Headfort Foundation, a criminal justice reform organization based in Lagos has narrated how one Lucky Abu spent six years in prison for no reason.
The organization revealed that Lucky was arrested in 2017 at Ajegunle during a series of raids by the police.
The 26-year-old was later charged to court for capital offense of armed robbery with two others and was remanded in prison.
“The file was duplicated and sent to DPP for legal advice. However, when the advice came out, Lucky’s name was omitted and this was the beginning of Lucky’s struggle on the matter.
“His other casemates proceeded with their case at the High Court, while Lucky was utterly abandoned with no headway and no one held accountable,” Headfort Foundation said.
In 2021, during a visitation to Ikoyi Correctional Centre, Lucky met the Foundations lawyer, Akah Juliet. The lawyer took his brief and carried out a preliminary inquiry on the case.
“The lawyer found out that Lucky had not been presented in court for his case since 2018 because his remand warrant got burnt. Also, she found out from the DPP’s office that advice had been issued since 2018.
“We applied for an e-copy but the court refused to act on it. A new magistrate took over the matter and finally a copy of the advice was sent to the court.
“The advice stated that Lucky should be tried for the offense of belonging to an unlawful society which if found guilty is punishable with 3 years imprisonment and at this time,” the foundation narrated.
Before this, he had spent five years in prison and was going over to his sixth year.
“In August 2022, a new charge was drafted by the prosecution and read to Lucky but he pleaded not guilty and the matter was slated for trial. For the first time since his remand, he was admitted to bail but his mother was unable to get another surety.
“On different days when the prosecution ought to commence his case, he kept on giving excuses as to why none of its witnesses was in court.
On the 16th of December 2022, Juliet was able to list all the “injustices and undue delays” suffered by the victim to the court. She prayed that he should be released, arguing that it was unfair to keep Lucky behind bars.
“She reiterated to the court the several injustices and undue delays suffered by Lucky and that it was unnecessary to continue this matter arguing that assuming Lucky was guilty of the offence, he would have served the stipulated maximum sentencing which is a grave injustice by the state to him,” the foundation said.
The lawyer was able to convince the court to release Lucky and he was finally discharged on December 16,2022.
