Two Nigerian men have regained their freedom after spending nearly four years in custody. They were arrested in 2022 and detained at the Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos. A Lagos court upheld a No Case Submission filed by their lawyers, leading to their discharge and acquittal. The men were discovered by the legal advocacy organisation Citizen Gavel during a prison visitation in January 2024.
According to Citizen Gavel, one of the men was arrested because the slippers he was wearing resembled those belonging to a complainant. The second man was reportedly arrested during a random police raid while hawking. Despite their prolonged detention, neither man had been taken to court when Citizen Gavel's lawyers encountered them in 2024. The organisation took up both cases without charge and began tracking their files through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The lawyers first appeared before Justice Coker in March 2024. However, over more than seven subsequent hearings, the prosecution failed to produce a single witness. Applications seeking to strike out the cases were reportedly followed by repeated adjournments, leaving the defendants in custody as the proceedings dragged on. In early 2025, the cases were transferred to the court of Justice Oshodi.
The men appeared before the court for the first time in March 2025 and pleaded not guilty. The prosecution later closed its case without presenting evidence establishing a case against either defendant. Their lawyers subsequently filed a No Case Submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence requiring the men to enter a defence.
The court upheld the submission, discharged and acquitted both men and ordered that they be released. Citizen Gavel said that during the nearly four years the men spent in custody, no family member of either defendant appeared in court and neither man had another lawyer representing him. The organisation said their cases highlighted broader concerns about prolonged pre-trial detention, weak investigations and abandoned or delayed prosecutions within Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
Citizen Gavel, which has secured the release of other detainees through similar legal interventions, said the two men had “endured years in custody largely unseen and unheard.” The organisation discovered the men during a prison visitation in January 2024. After almost four years behind bars, both men are now free, having ultimately been discharged and acquitted after the prosecution failed to produce evidence sufficient to make them answer a case.
The case highlights issues with Nigeria's justice system, particularly regarding prolonged pre-trial detention and weak investigations. The men's ordeal is a notable example of the challenges faced by many individuals in similar situations. Their release brings attention to the need for improvements in the country's justice system to prevent such instances in the future.
Key points
- The two men were arrested in 2022 and spent nearly four years in custody without trial evidence.
- The prosecution failed to produce a single witness over seven hearings.
- The men's cases highlight broader concerns about prolonged pre-trial detention and weak investigations in Nigeria's criminal justice system.
