Headline

Pathetic Story Of How Men Spent 15 Years In jail For No Cause

Published

4 years ago

January 15, 2022

Sometime in 2007, some 19 Igbo youths were randomly picked up and locked away in different detention facilities by security operatives over allegations of terrorism and treason.

They were accused of either belonging to the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) or sponsoring its activities in the South East.

They were arrested while going about their normal businesses. However, on November 24, 2021, after 15 years of incarceration, they regained their freedom having been discharged and acquitted by a Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State. In truth, no tangible evidence was produced by government to justify their arrest and detention in the first instance.

The trial judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo said the prosecutors failed to establish proof for treason and terrorism charges levelled against the 19 accused persons.

Saturday Sun encountered some of them, and they recounted their heart-rending experiences in detention.

They lamented that their future had been ruined by the Federal Government of Nigeria over trumped up charges.

I lost my business and love of my life
–Chikwem

Ikechukwu Chikwem was 35 years old when he was arrested in his spare parts shop located in Nkwo Nnewi. Now 50 and left to start life afresh, Chikwem who hails from Obazu Mbieri in Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State, recalled with trepidation how his life was turned on its head.

In the morning of April 11, 2007, Chikwem was in one of his shops, attending to customers when two policemen came and told him he was needed at their station. Chikwem boldly followed the officers since he felt he had no unfinished business transaction with anyone neither was he owing any of his business partners. He told his neighbours to watch over his shop, adding that he would be back in an hour.

“Throughout that morning, they kept me behind the counter. I stayed there till 6pm. They brought one bus and asked me to enter. I asked them what was the problem and they said I would know when I got to Awka. From there, they took me to the State CID; I stayed there till the next morning when they took me to Awkuzu SARS,” he narrated.

It was at the SARS office in Awkuzu that an officer asked him, ‘where is the White man?’ Surprised by the question, Chikwem asked to know which White man the officer was referring to. Rather than a reply, he said he received hot slaps on his face, followed by severe torture that ended up paralyzing his hands for several months.

“So when they asked further questions I kept quiet because I didn’t know which answer would annoy them. All they needed was for me to always reply in the positive. One man there ordered them to take me to a hall where they hang people. They said I would say the truth there.

“They brought out sliced bicycle tube used for tying broom and tied my hands from my fingers to my shoulders. The pain was so excruciating. I was crying and shouting. I now asked him to tell me anything he wanted me to say and I would say them.

“The pain was just too much for me. At that point, his phone rang. He picked his phone and answered the call for over 40 minutes. Before he could come back, my hands had been paralyzed. I was not feeling the pains anymore. He came back with a sheet of paper where he had written a lot of things and then asked me to sign.

“One of his colleagues asked him how possible it was for me to sign seeing that my hands had been paralyzed and I would not be able to use it even after six months. Then he took me back to the cell. I could not use my hands anymore. In the cell, other inmates were the ones that would bathe and feed me. They now transferred us to Umuahia from where we were moved to Abuja.”

Chikwem and other detainees were returned to Awka to face trial in court having been charged with terrorism and treason.

“They said that I am a MASSOB member, that my in-law is a MASSOB sponsor and he is passing the information and money through me. They said that my in-law is the one paying all MASSOB members. At the end of the day, they investigated and found nothing on me.

“I was granted bail in Abuja but because this thing is political, that bail was denied. I am a businessman and my boss was Ogbuawa (wealthy Nnewi businessman). I discovered that people who wanted to bring him down were behind the plot.

“The police did all the investigation but none of the allegations was true. They gave me that bail on Friday, I was contacting my people to come and fulfil the bail conditions on Monday. On Saturday, it was reported that the owner of my phone number is a terrorist. That he is the one burning all the police stations in Nnewi. That was how the bail was revoked and the investigation started again. This whole thing lasted for 15 years.”

Aside losing his business which was worth N16.7 million in 2007, Chikwem also lost the love of his life to another man. He had concluded the marital rites of introduction before the incident.

“I was about getting married and had already gone for the introduction before this thing happened. The lady didn’t abandon me; she stood by me and actually came to the police station to see me when I was arrested. But after about seven months, I told her to relax, that I was coming back.

“However, after two years in detention, I told her to go back to her parents. I told her that if I came back and found her unmarried, I’ll marry her but if she saw another man, she should go ahead and marry the person. We both started crying when I said this. My detention now took 15 years. By the grace of God, she is married now with kids. I have not seen her but we spoke over the phone.”

But for Chikwem, all hope is not lost. He recalled that many people came into the prison and died there but since he was still strong without any deformity, he still believes that he will achieve all his dreams.

He said: “What God deposited in me is still there. I can make it. I have forgotten the 15 years. I am now facing the future. Now, I am pleading, if I can be given another opportunity by our people, I will be grateful. I need financial assistance.

“I had planned to save up to N22 million. I’ll keep N2 million here and take N20 million to China and get my goods. That was before this incident. I actually had N16.7 million when this thing happened. I was almost getting to my target before these people came and damaged everything.”

Siblings dropped out of school, family house demolished

For Ndubuisi Okam, a native of Edda, Afikpo South in Ebonyi State, he was arrested on his way to Aba to purchase stock jeans which he sold in Abakaliki.

After spending 15 years in detention, he returned to his village only to realise that his father’s house had been pulled down. His family now lives in a one-room shanty. His three younger brothers, whose education he was financing, had dropped out of school. He also lost two of his uncles while in detention.

“I am happy to be alive and out of prison but I’m not happy with the situation I found myself. I was charged with treason and felony and plan to overthrow the government. I didn’t do anything. I thank God that after all the years, the judge of the Federal High Court Awka discovered that I did nothing.”

Okam, now 35 had planned to get married to a certain beautiful young girl called Nnenna before the unfortunate incident.

“She was the girl of my dream, but another person has now married her,” he said.

But that is not Okam’s problem. All he needs now is a fresh start. He wants to be empowered financially, so that he could assist his family

“I was 20 years then but I am 35 now. I want to have a good future but I need money. I have plans but none of them will make sense if I don’t have money.”

They kept changing judges –Ezekwem

Another victim, Chidiebere Ezekwem who hails from Ogwa community in Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State was a shoe dealer in Onitsha. He was on his way to Aba to buy shoes when security operatives intercepted him along the way and brought him to Awka to face trial.

He bemoaned incessant adjournments and frequent change of trial judges who handled the case.

“When a judge starts the case, before getting to the end, he will be transferred and another judge will take over. This thing continued for several times until a particular judge, Justice Oweibo, came. Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator Chris Anyanwu and members of MASSOB also got involved in the case before I was discharged.”

Now 40, Ezekwem said he was billed to get married to a girl he was engaged to before the incident. “The lady later got married to another man, so, I’m not married.

“After I was discharged on November 24, 202I, came back to my home in Ogwa community, Mbaitolu Local Government of Imo State because I have no other place to go.”

Just like his colleagues, Ezekwem now needs help from government and other public-spirited individuals to go back to his former business.

He said: “I want to continue with my normal life. I thank God for my strength, I lost everything but I did not lose my life. I also thank God for the MASSOB members who came up in their multitude for my rescue.

“So many things happened in the prison; idleness, no facilities, no sunlight, staying in the prison for 15years and seven months affected me, but I thank God for everything.”

They paid biggest price
– MASSOB leader

Reacting to the development, leader of MASSOB, Uchenna Madu in an interview hailed the 19 youths for paying a price bigger than what most agitators had paid in the past.

He said that while others including Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, Nnamdi Kanu and himself had spent some years in jail, these Igbo youths spent 15 of their most productive years in detention.

“As a matter of fact, since 1999 when this struggle started, this people are the highest and the greatest people that have paid the price, apart from those that laid down their lives.

“The highest I spent in the prison was three years, six months and two weeks but we are talking about 15 years here. Ralph Uwazuruike spent two years, Nnamdi Kanu has gone about two times or so but two years is the highest he has spent in the prison at a stretch. But these ones here have spent 15 years of their youth in prison.

“The Federal Government detained these men who had future plans and ambitions for their family and community. They have frustrated them and at the end of the day they are discharged and asked to go just like that. That is injustice.

“We know other steps that we are going to take to redress this and bring justice to our brothers. In their villages, so many people had seen them as criminals but today they are saints. They are freedom fighters.

“They suffered for the sake of Biafra. I use this medium once again to thank Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. We met him, we appealed to him with Senator Chris Anyanwu, Senator Ben-Collins Ndu and a few others. We begged them and they listened to us, they moved. Abaribe is a true Igbo leader, even though he believes in the continuation of Nigeria. Abaribe believes in one Nigeria, he may not share the same idea of Biafra with us but at the same time the pains of his people touch him so much.”

One striking thing that Saturday Sun gathered in our investigations was that all these people never knew one another before their arrest. They were doing their businesses in different locations across the South East before they were arrested and branded Biafra agitators.

One of them said he did not belong to any Biafra group. But he stated that since he was incarcerated for years for what he knew nothing about, he was now ready to die for the Biafra struggle.

(SUN)

Headline

Nigerian Jailed Six Years In U.S. For Sextortion

Published

5 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

Imoleayo Samuel Aina, also known as “Alice Dave,” a 27-year-old Nigerian national, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison following his conviction on multiple charges connected to the sexual extortion and subsequent death of a young man in Pennsylvania.

The sentence, handed down by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky, includes 72 months of incarceration, five years of supervised release, and a restitution payment of $3,250. Aina had earlier pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, interstate threats to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and wire fraud.

Aina and his co-defendant, Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, were initially arrested in Nigeria in July 2024 and subsequently extradited to the United States. Another co-defendant, Afeez Olatunji Adewale, remains in Nigeria pending extradition. Abiodun, 26, was sentenced to five years in June 2025 for his role in money laundering and wire fraud related to the same sextortion scheme.

U.S. Attorney David Metcalf described Aina as “the driving force behind this sextortion scheme, which left a young man, and then his family, traumatised.” He added, “The Department of Justice won’t just stand by when innocent victims in the U.S. are harmed by criminal scammers overseas. As this case shows, we can — and we will — find, prosecute, and hold accountable these insidious sextortionists who terrorise people for money.”

Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, emphasised the wider message of the prosecution. “This case is a powerful reminder of the profound harm sextortion inflicts on young people and their families, and of our unwavering commitment to pursuing those who perpetrate it.

“Whether you are in the United States or operating from abroad, the FBI and our partners will relentlessly pursue you. If you exploit our youth, we will bring you to justice.”

The investigation, conducted jointly by the FBI and the Abington Township Police Department, was supported by multiple international and Nigerian authorities, including Nigeria’s Attorney General, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the Ministry of Justice’s International Criminal Justice Cooperation Department.

Aina’s co-defendants played complementary roles in the scheme. Abiodun functioned as the financial intermediary, while Adewale, who remains in Nigeria, faces charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud.

Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Brown, prosecuting the case, noted the international collaboration required to secure Aina’s extradition and conviction. “This prosecution demonstrates that national borders do not shield those who exploit and defraud others. Those who choose to target the vulnerable should understand that justice will reach them, regardless of location,” he said.

Headline

UK Ends Automatic Benefits For Asylum Seekers In Major Reform

Published

6 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

Britain’s interior minister on Sunday defended plans to drastically reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, insisting that irregular migration was “tearing our country apart”.

The measures, modelled on Denmark’s strict asylum system, aim to stop thousands of migrants from arriving in England from northern France on small boats — crossings that are fuelling support for the anti-immigrant Reform UK party.

But the proposals were criticised as “harsh and unnecessary” by the Refugee Council charity and are likely to be opposed by left-wing lawmakers within Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s embattled Labour government.

“I really reject this idea that dealing with this problem is somehow engaging in far-right talking points,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told BBC television.

“This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart, it is dividing communities.”

Presently, those given refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship.

But Mahmood’s ministry, known as the Home Office, said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months.

That protection will be “regularly reviewed” and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, it added.

The ministry also said that it intended to make those refugees who were granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the UK long-term, up from the current five years.

It also announced that it would create “new safe and legal routes for genuine refugees” through “capped work and study routes”.

Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with some 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.

The Home Office called the new proposals, which Mahmood will lay out in parliament on Monday, the “largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times”.

It said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants to come to Britain, and make it easier to remove those already in the country.

– Benefits crackdown –

A statutory legal duty to provide support to asylum seekers, introduced in a 2005 law, would also be revoked, the Home Office said.

That means housing and weekly financial allowances would no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.
It would be “discretionary”, meaning the government could deny assistance to any asylum seeker who could work or support themselves but did not, or those who committed crimes.

Starmer, elected in July 2024, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats from France, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such dangerous journeys — more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.

Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, has led Labour by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged the government to rethink its plans, saying they “will not deter” the crossings.

“They should ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build secure, settled lives and give back to their communities,” he said.

Labour is taking inspiration from Denmark’s coalition government — led by the centre-left Social Democrats — which has implemented some of the strictest migration policies in Europe.

Senior British officials recently visited the Scandinavian country, where successful asylum claims are at a 40-year-low.

Refugees in Denmark are entitled to a one-year renewable residency permit, and are encouraged to return home as soon as authorities deem there is no longer a need for a safe haven.

Family reunions are also subject to strict requirements, including a minimum age for both parents, language tests and guarantees of funds.

Labour’s more left-wing lawmakers will probably oppose the plans, fearing that the party is losing voters to progressive alternatives such as the Greens.

Headline

Overcrowding, Security Lapses Plague Nigerian Prisons —EU

Published

8 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

A report by the European Union Agency for Asylum has revealed that Nigeria’s custodial centres are battling “escalating security challenges.”

The report, sighted by Sunday PUNCH, was published in November 2025. It documented a decade-long pattern of prison escapes in the country, explaining why the custodial centres are confronting rising jailbreaks, citing persistent security lapses.

“Over the past decade, Nigeria has experienced a pattern of prison jailbreaks, resulting in thousands of inmates escaping correctional facilities nationwide,” the report noted.

Highlighting systemic weaknesses, the report cited overcrowding, structural deficiencies, and chronic underfunding as major contributors to the problem.

“One incident occurred in March 2025, when 12 inmates escaped from the Koton Karfe Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kogi State. Only five were recaptured.

“This marked the fourth jailbreak at this facility in 13 years, where nearly 700 inmates have fled, including about 100 freed during a 2012 Boko Haram attack,” it stated.

Observers attribute the recurring breakouts to “security gaps, together with possible insider complicity, which exacerbate the prisons’ vulnerabilities, especially amid attacks by armed groups like Boko Haram.”

Beyond security concerns, the report said overcrowding and poor infrastructure continued to strain the country’s correctional system.

“The country’s more than 240 prisons currently house over 80,000 inmates, with two-thirds awaiting trial.

“The observers also point to systemic issues such as overcrowding, outdated infrastructure, poor inmate conditions, slow judicial processes, and widespread corruption,” the report said.

“International bodies have also criticised the state of Nigeria’s detention system,” it stated.

Following a September 2024 visit, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture described conditions in detention centres as “abysmal,” citing inadequate food, healthcare, and sanitation.

“Their assessment described conditions in most detention facilities as ‘abysmal.’ Additionally, Nigeria had not yet established a National Preventive Mechanism as required under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which Nigeria ratified in 2009.

“The Subcommittee called on Nigeria to urgently implement measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment, improve detention conditions—particularly in police stations and similar facilities—and enforce legal safeguards to end impunity for perpetrators of torture,” the report read.

The report also raised concerns over the continued use of the death penalty.

It added, “In Nigeria, the death penalty is a ‘lawful punishment’ imposed nationwide, including for offences that do not meet the threshold of ‘most serious crimes’ under international law.

“Although no executions have been carried out since 2016, courts across the country still regularly issue death sentences. In 2023, Nigerian courts issued over 246 new death sentences, raising the total number of individuals on death row to more than 3,413.”

In May 2024, the Senate proposed a bill to increase the maximum penalty for drug trafficking from life imprisonment to death, a move that has faced opposition from various stakeholders, including legislators, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime country representative, as well as activists and legal professionals.

“Such a proposal has reignited debate over the continued use of the death penalty in the country, with some authorities questioning the sustainability of retaining capital punishment.

“Further, although legal provisions allow for commutation of sentences by governors or chief judges after extended incarceration, inconsistencies in application have left many inmates in legal limbo,” said the report.

The Nigerian Correctional Service revealed in July 2025 that the country had 3,833 inmates on death row.

The report further stated that the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has urged Nigeria to “impose a moratorium on executions, a stance supported by the European Union and United Nations.”

It added that the detention conditions remained “harsh,” falling short of United Nations minimum standards for prisoner treatment.

Media reports and information from the Nigerian Correctional Service website indicated that thousands of inmates have escaped from 13 custodial facilities between 2019 and 2025, including many awaiting trial for serious offences such as terrorism and armed robbery.

In response to the ongoing wave of jailbreaks that has plagued custodial centres nationwide over the past years, the Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Sylvester Nwakuche, recently vowed to enforce strict disciplinary action against any officers found to have been negligent.