Unable to meet N.5m bail, man rots in prison for 10 yrs

 

Thirty-five-year-old Samuel Shittu, is a native of  Igboora in Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of Oyo State.

In 2013, the herbal medicine practitioner was arrested by the Police along with others over allegation of cultism.  He was severely tortured and dumped in the Police cell for months until he was arraigned before the State High Court. 

Although Shittu was granted bail then, he has spent over 10 years at Ijebu Ode Correction Centre because he has not been able to meet the N500, 000 and two sureties condition for his bail.

During the course of his incarceration, Shittu lost his pregnant wife in an accident on her way to visit him. His only son who was just 3 years old when he was arrested, is now being cared for by his late wife’s sister.

In this edition, Shittu who despite the weighty allegation against him insists that he is innocent,  shares with Encounter his ordeal in prison, his quest for speedy trial and justice and appeals for help to meet his bail conditions.

Background

My name is Samuel Shittu. I reside in Shagamu, Ogun state but I am a native of Igboora, in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State.

My father is from Igbole in Ibarapa while my mother is from Ipapo. I am a herbal medicine practitioner; I learnt the work from my father. I was born on August 10, 1988.

My mother died in 1996 while my father died in 2011.

Strange Arrest

On the night of October 19, 2013, I was in my bedroom sleeping with my wife and our three-year-old son, when I heard a knock on my door around 1am. The Police had broken the main entrance door of our compound and were breaking into every room.

They ordered all of us in that house to come out. I thought they were armed robbers because they were not in Police uniform. Four of us were eventually arrested in that house and were taken to the Gbobi Police Station, Shagamu, Ogun State.

It was not until we got to the station that I got to know that they were Policemen working with members of Odua Peoples’ Congress, OPC.

Torture

At Shagamu Police station, I was tortured with broken bottles and the flats of cutlass.

The Police officer who tortured me was drinking Chelsea dry gin as he was beating me with the flat cutlass.

I had deep cut on my hands and was bleeding seriously. (He shows the matchete cut on his hand).

They also hanged me with handcuffs.

Police demand for N150k

The Police officer in charge of the matter later asked my wife to go and bring N150,000 for my bail.

My wife begged the officer that there was no way she could raise that amount of money. When she couldn’t raise the money on the third day, I was transferred to Eleweran Police Station, Abeokuta.

The other tenants who were arrested with me were left behind.

Forced to accept allegation

At Eleweran Police Station, I was tortured again several times.

The new Investigating Police Officer later brought some suspects to me to identify them.

After thorough beating to the point of death, the Police officer said I should admit that I am a cult member and that I knew the three people he brought to me for identification.

I admitted I knew them but God knows I didn’t know them. I only accepted to save my life.

Pregnant wife dies

I was in Eleweran Police detention for over two months. It was in that process my wife died in a road accident with her five-month pregnancy.

The Police officer was aware that my wife died in a road accident with her pregnancy while coming to see me in Abeokuta Police station, yet they showed no empathy for me.

Arraigned for cultism

On December 5, 2013, about 11 of us were taken to the Shagamu Magistrate Court for arraignment.

Three persons were charged with me for the offence of cultism and murder while seven persons were charged separately for other offences.

We were remanded at Oba Prison Custody Abeokuta pending legal advice from the Office of Directorate of Public Prosecution, DPP.

On December 6, 2013, one of the persons arraigned with me, Seun Oguntimileyin died in the prison as a result of torture at the Police station.

Unable to meet bail conditions

When the DPP eventually issued a legal advice on the case, it ordered that two other persons and I, should be charged for cultism.

We were not arraigned until March 12, 2017 before the State High Court.

We were granted bail in the sum of N500, 000 each with two sureties, but I had no money and no family members to stand as sureties for me.

I have been in prison ever since suffering all manner of sicknesses. My son is over 12 years now and I have only seen him once when my late wife’s family members brought him to see me.

Appeals for assistance

The trial has been dragging on endlessly since 2017.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the matter was totally abandoned. When the court resumed after the lockdown, it took several months before the trial resumed.

I am ready to face my trial because I am hopeful that I will be vindicated.

I attended Court last in October 2022 when we were informed that the presiding judge had been transferred to Ijebu Igbo.

Right now, I have no hope of when the trial will restart or end. My appeal is for assistance from members of the public to meet my bail condition of N500, 000 with two sureties so that I can come out of prison and do something useful with my life.

CJMR’s Intervention

Encounter spoke to the Executive Director, Centre for Justice, Mercy and Reconciliation, CJMR, Pastor Hezekiah Olujobi, over the plight of Shittu and many other inmates whom his organisation has been assisting to get justice, especially awaiting trial inmates.

CJMR, based in Ibadan, Oyo State, has facilitated the release of over 300 inmates across the region and also helped with their reintegration into the society.

He said: “The Court is always open for the lawyers to defend their clients and the prosecutor to prove the guilt of the offenders, but in a situation where the door of the Court is closed and the oppressed could not access justice, it is our duty to raise our voices so that those in authority can hear them through us and lose the oppressed.

“When we heard about Shittu’s plight in prison, we contacted his late wife’s sister who confirmed to us that all that he said was true.

“His story is a true reflection of the sad state of the nation’s judiciary which ought to be the hope of the poor.

“Unfortunately, there are hundreds of other pathetic cases like that of Shittu, whose lives are wasting away in prison simply because there is no one to help bail them out.

“The Police has remained the major source of injustice and miscarriage of justice in this country.

“Prison congestion is an epidemic inflicted on the society by the Police. If you go to Agodi and Ilesha prisons in Ibadan, you will see the same pattern of arrest.

“In this particular case involving Shittu, the 11 defendants involved in the case were granted bail, but most of them have not been able to meet the bail condition or engage the services of a lawyer.

“In Ilaro Prison, there are some of them who have no case file in the Ministry of Justice and they have been in detention for six, seven years.

“Before this same particular judge in Ijebu Ode, over 30 persons have been standing trial for seven to 12 years.

“We are pleading with Chief Judge of Ogun State, Hon. Justice M. A. Dipeolu, to look into these unnecessary long detentions with inconclusive trial.”

Support to help Shittu regain his freedom can be sent to CJMR Zenith Bank Account no.: 1012189729