A keke driver has narrated how he was imprisoned for almost one year because of slippers worn by his friend.
The young man named Wisdom Elijah, who was working in Port Harcourt with the keke which he got on hire purchase, was arrested on January 6, 2024, and regained freedom on Dec. 3, 2024.
He explained that he had closed work for the day but friends who were having a party asked him to drop them off and he did.
On his way back, fuel finished in his tricycle so he took a keg and asked a friend of his to accompany him to buy fuel from a woman who sells in the neighbourhood.
After they bought fuel from the woman, his friend, whose slippers had cut, abandoned his bad slippers and wore another pair of slippers seen at the front of the woman’s house.
The keke driver said he was not aware of what his friend had done until the woman came out and confronted his friend.
He said he scolded his friend and they pleaded with the woman, but she refused and called them thieves. Her husband then emerged and called the police, Wisdom alleged. They were arrested when the police officers arrived.
Wisdom claimed they were in a cell for three days and he kept thinking it was a minor issue and he would be out soon.
However, he knew it was serious when they were charged to court.
In court, they were granted bail and one of the conditions was that they had to pay N80,000. While waiting to fulfil their bail conditions, court closed for the day and they were taken to prison.
While there, his friend’s family raised the funds and bailed their son after three days. Meanwhile, he said he had no one to call to pay the N80,000 or stand as surety for him. According to him, he also could not get access to a phone in prison, so he remained in custody for months.
He added that he was placed in the worst cell, where food and water were scarce.
Videos of Wisdom taken after his release from prison show him looking emaciated in a hospital, while a healthcare professional takes his vitals.
He did not reveal how he finally secured his release from jail.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
