Lagos Panel Awards N7.5 Million To Petitioner Who Spent Six Years In Prison Without Trial

The Lagos State judicial panel, has awarded a a petitioner, Marc Chidiebere Nwadi, N7.5 million for spending six years in prison without trial.

The Lagos state government had set up the judicial panel to probe police brutality on victims.

In her ruling on Friday, chairperson of the panel, Doris Okuwobi, held that the petitioner suffered in the hands of police officers owing to his inability to offer a bribe.
 
Okuwobi presented a cheque of N7.5 million to the petitioner on behalf of the state government.

The chairperson said the petitioner endured six years in prison without any justification.

“His inability to provide bribes led to trumped-up charges, as a result he was kept in the awaiting trial section of the Kirikiri maximum security for six years,” she said.

“The petitioner was incarcerated in the prime of his life without justification for six years and was never tried or sentenced for any crime despite enduring a long six-year stay in prison and losing a vital part of his youth and opportunities.

“We hereby give an award of N7.5 million in favor of the petitioner.”

Okuwobi also recommended that the investigating police officer in charge of the case should be sanctioned by the police and suspended for six months without pay and that other police officers involved should be suspended for three months.

The petitioner came to Lagos in 1999 to visit his brother but could not locate his address and was arrested by police officers at a bus park.

He later spent six years in prison, awaiting trial.

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