A young Keke driver, Wisdom Elijah, has narrated how an encounter over a pair of slippers led to his wrongful imprisonment for almost a year. Wisdom, who was working in Port Harcourt under a hire-purchase agreement for his tricycle, was arrested on January 6, 2024, and regained his freedom on December 3, 2024.
The ordeal began when Wisdom closed work for the day and was invited to drop off some friends at a party. On his way back, his tricycle ran out of fuel. He borrowed a keg and asked a friend to accompany him to buy fuel from a local vendor.
Trouble started after they bought the fuel. Wisdom’s friend, whose slippers had torn, abandoned his old pair and took another pair of slippers from the front of the vendor’s house without permission. Wisdom said he was unaware of his friend’s actions until the woman came out and accused them of theft. Despite their attempts to apologize, the woman called her husband, who involved the police.
Wisdom and his friend were arrested and detained. “I thought it was a minor issue and I would be out soon,” Wisdom recalled. But things quickly escalated when they were charged to court.
The court granted them bail with conditions, including a payment of N80,000 each. However, before they could meet the bail conditions, the court closed for the day, and they were remanded in prison.
Within three days, his friend’s family raised the required sum and secured his release. Unfortunately, Wisdom had no one to pay the bail or stand as a surety for him. Lacking access to a phone, he was left stranded in custody for months.
While in prison, Wisdom said he was placed in a harsh environment where food and water were scarce. His health deteriorated significantly, leaving him looking frail and malnourished.
Videos taken after his release show Wisdom in a hospital bed as healthcare professionals checked his vitals. Although he did not disclose the exact circumstances of his eventual release, Wisdom’s story highlights the harsh realities faced by individuals without support systems when caught in the justice system.
His experience has sparked conversations about the urgent need for legal reforms and better access to justice for the underprivileged in Nigeria.
