Judges release inmate following decade-long detention without a guilty verdict

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A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has discharged and acquitted Ibrahim Usman, who spent about 10 years in custody without conviction, after ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the charge of defilement against him beyond reasonable doubt.

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Justice Rahman Oshodi, who delivered the judgment on Tuesday in Charge No. ID/4091C/2017, held that the prosecution’s case was manifestly weak and failed to establish the essential ingredients of the offence under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

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The court also faulted both the prosecution and custodial authorities, describing the prolonged detention as a grave institutional failure within the criminal justice system.

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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.

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The court noted that when the case came up for arraignment, authorities at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Custodial Centre repeatedly failed to produce the defendant before different judges despite several production warrants.

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This persisted between October 2017 and February 2020, leading to the case being struck out on February 13, 2020, by Justice Sybil Nwaka (now of the Court of Appeal) for want of diligent prosecution after the defendant could not be produced in court.

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It later emerged that the prosecution was unaware that the defendant remained in custody.

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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.

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Justice Oshodi described the conduct of the custodial authorities as persistently deficient.

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“A production warrant issued by a High Court is a lawful command. The custodial authorities’ failure to comply with it in this case is a matter of grave institutional concern,” the court held.

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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.

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Under cross-examination, the witness admitted he did not personally examine the alleged victim.

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The court held that, in the absence of the medical report and testimony of its maker, the evidence could not sustain the charge.

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Justice Oshodi further ruled 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.

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“The prosecution’s evidence was so manifestly insufficient that it required no answer,” the judge held.

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The court also found that the defendant’s decision to rest his case on that of the prosecution was justified, as no prima facie case had been established.

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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.

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He noted that systems such as the Lagos Criminal Information System were created to prevent such occurrences by tracking defendants across the justice system.

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“The fate of this defendant illustrates what happens when such systems are not effectively utilised. He was detained at public expense for years without trial,” the judge said.

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Justice Oshodi subsequently discharged and acquitted the defendant, ordering his immediate release from custody.

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“The defendant is not guilty. I discharge and acquit him. He is to be released forthwith,” he ruled.

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