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Some Nigerians have expressed outrage after a 26-year-old Abuja Photographer, Nicholas, regains freedom ten months after his boss, Oluwole Mike, who’s a top politician, got him arrested for resigning his role as a photographer.
According to a human rights lawyer, Funke Adeoye, who took up the case, the Nigerian Police had charged the 26-year-old for “intentional insult”, locking him in Keffi Prison.
Adeoye, in a series of tweets shared via the microblogging platform on Tuesday evening, disclosed that Nicholas remained in prison as he couldn’t raise the bail sum of N100,000, which was later reduced to N50,000.
The human rights lawyer further shared a photo of the photographer before and after prison, sparking a flurry of reactions from social media users who criticised the injustice meted upon the young man by both his boss and the justice system.
Sharing Nicholas’ story, Adeoye wrote, “This is Nicholas. A 26 year old graduate, photographer & Keyboardist.
“Sometime in October 2023, Nicholas sent a text message to his boss resigning his role as a photographer in the photo studio.
“His boss was angry at the content of the text message & got him arrested.
“From spending 2 days in police detention, he ended up being charged for “intentional insult”, locked up & up in a room with 189 other cellmates at a prison in Keffi because he could not afford the bail sum initially N100,000 & later N50,000.
“He remained there even after the said boss, a politician in the current administration & owner of a popular photography studio in FCT wrote a letter to the court withdrawing the charge.
“Two weeks ago, someone hinted @hopebehindbar about Nicholas’s plight, and @thehassanian reached out to a friend of his who donated N50,000 anonymously.
“The first picture is a picture of Nicholas 2 months before prison, second is a picture of him when we got him out last week and the third is a picture of him at @hopebehindbar office today.”
How Nigerians reacted
mazichiko wrote: “The police and courts are All accomplices to injustice melts on this young man and many others. I always say it, if the courts were functional, there is no reason why police can keep a person in jail for 10 months.”
monickwin wrote: “What kind of system locks someone up for 10 months because they resigned???”
obaksolo wrote: “You can imagine. What’s his name pls. Let’s say Goodmorning to him and his Family.”
dansegun wrote: “We can all report both their Facebook page and IG page (under bullying** and harassment***)If more than 1k persons report their pages, those pages are as good as gone.”
iphacy wrote: “He is an APC politician also note this.”
sonichizcakes wrote: “Which judge, which court😮 this country will mess with your brain wtf.”
erbukahalexander wrote; “The boss:has now deactivated his X account.”
jewel_derabii wrote: “@nigeriapoliceforce where’s your dignity?”