Man Freed After 10 Years in Custody Without Conviction

A Lagos High Court has discharged and acquitted Ibrahim Usman, who spent approximately 10 years in detention without ever being convicted of any offence.

Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the judgment on Tuesday in Ikeja, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of defilement against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt. The court held that the prosecution’s case was manifestly weak and did not establish the essential elements of the offence under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

Usman was arrested on June 14, 2016, over allegations of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in February 2016 at Ipaja, Lagos. However, the prosecution did not file charges until March 2017.

The court noted that authorities at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre repeatedly failed to produce the defendant before different judges despite several production warrants. This continued between October 2017 and February 2020, leading to the case being struck out on February 13, 2020, for want of diligent prosecution after the defendant could not be brought to court.

It later emerged that the prosecution was unaware the defendant remained in custody. Even after the case was reassigned, custodial authorities again failed to produce him between December 2023 and January 2024, despite fresh court orders. He was eventually brought before the court on March 14, 2024.

Justice Oshodi described the conduct of the custodial authorities as persistently deficient, stating that a production warrant issued by a High Court is a lawful command, and the failure to comply with it is a matter of grave institutional concern.

At trial, the prosecution called only one witness, a medical doctor who merely interpreted a report prepared by another doctor who neither testified nor tendered the report in evidence. Under cross-examination, the witness admitted he did not personally examine the alleged victim.

The court ruled that in the absence of the medical report and the testimony of its maker, the evidence could not sustain the charge. The judge also found that the prosecution failed to establish the age of the alleged victim and did not provide evidence linking the defendant to the offence, noting that key witnesses, including the complainant, were not called.

Justice Oshodi emphasised that the delay was not caused by the court but by the prosecution’s failure to diligently pursue the case and the custodial authorities’ disregard for court orders. He noted that systems such as the Lagos Criminal Information System were created to prevent such occurrences.

The judge subsequently discharged and acquitted the defendant, ordering his immediate release from custody.