Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, has narrated the events that led to the remand of Alabi Quadri, a teenager who went viral in the buildup to the 2023 presidential election.
In February 2023, Quadri dominated social media discourse after he was pictured stretching his arms in front of the motorcade of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the election.
Obi, who stood through the open roof of his car during a campaign stop in Lagos, had responded to the teenager’s gesture with a broad smile.
Recently, an activist posted on X that Quadri is currently languishing in Kirikiri prison for an offence he did not commit.
The activist said Quadri was returning home from work when he was forcefully taken to the police station by some young men over claims that he was among a group of robbers in the community.
The post caught the attention of many Nigerians, including Obi and Effiong. The human rights lawyer had promised to intervene.
Providing an update, Effiong said he and Quadri’s family members visited the teenager at the custodial centre on Wednesday.
He said the teenager has been in custody since January.
Effiong relayed that the teenager’s mother attributed Quadri’s ordeal to the entitlement of some street urchins to the largesse he reportedly received after making the headlines in 2023.
The lawyer said because Quadri refused to “properly settle” the street urchins, they plotted to get back at him.
Effiong said the teenager was subsequently “abducted” by the street urchins.
“After abducting Alabi, the same area boys who have been threatening to deal with him for not sharing the money he was gifted dragged him to the Amukoko Police Station (Pako Police Station), where he was detained,” Effiong said.
“The area boys initially claimed that Alabi was one of the young men who had been involved in street fights.
“However, it came as a rude shock when the Police took him before a Magistrate along with four other individuals who are complete strangers to him, alleging that he conspired with them to commit ‘armed robbery’ with cutlasses.
“The police in the charge sheet alleged that the two victims were robbed of money and four mobile phones.
“The value of both the physical cash and four phones is N579,000 only.
“I spent about two hours interviewing Alabi about the veracity of the charges brought by the police.
“Speaking objectively, we all left Kirikiri with a strong conviction that this gentleman is just another victim of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
“The last point that we want to state on the record is that Alabi is a Minor. He is less than 18 years old.
“Currently, Alabi has appeared before the Magistrate on three occasions.
“The court remanded him along with the four strange individuals who are all adults at the custodial centre pending legal advice by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).”
The lawyer said his team will do everything “legally permissible” to secure the release of the minor.
(The cable)
