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A reprieve has befallen a teenager in Lagos who spent four years in detention for wearing a pair of sandals similar to those worn by the complainant.
The teenager was reportedly arrested and detained since 2022 without being brought to justice. It is unclear whether he was accused of stealing the sandals or not.
The teenager, whose identity was not disclosed, was among two men whose cases were handled by the non-governmental organization Citizens Gavel, after its legal team discovered them during a visit to the Medium Security Correctional Center in January 2024.
The Gavel resident, in a post on Tuesday, stated that the teenager was arrested for wearing sandals similar to the complainant’s but was never taken to court despite being detained for months.
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The legal agency noted that the discovery prompted an intervention to trace the case.
“The abuse they endured came to our attention in January 2024 when we visited the Medium Security Correctional Centre, where our legal team in Lagos interviewed them and discovered that, despite having been arrested since 2022, they had never been brought to justice.”
“Our legal team immediately took up their case and began tracking the matter in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and ultimately traced the case to Judge Coker’s court,” the post read in part.
The Gavel residents stated that they first appeared in this matter in March 2024 and subsequently appeared before Judge Coker more than seven times for trial.
The organization further stated that despite several delays, the prosecution failed to produce a single witness.
“Since then, we have continued to appear before Judge Coker more than seven times for trial and filed several motions urging the court to dismiss the case despite all the delays and the prosecution failing to produce a single witness,” he said.
However, the legal team claimed to have been notified in early 2025 that Judge Coker was carrying out official duties and the case would be transferred to another court.
The statement noted that Gavel Residents again started the process of tracing the case and finally learned that the case had been transferred to Magistrate Oshodi’s court.
The organization said they first appeared before Judge Oshodi in March 2025, when the charges were read to the two defendants, and they pleaded not guilty.
“At the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, we filed No Case Submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish a case requiring the defendants to answer,” the post said.
The matter was then postponed for decision.
In its decision, the court reportedly upheld the No Case Submission and acquitted the two defendants.
But Gavel residents described the results as significant.
“What makes this victory even more meaningful is that throughout this nearly four-year ordeal, not a single member of the defendants’ family appeared in court. No other lawyer represented them either. They spent years in custody unseen and unheard of. Today, they are free,” the organization said.
