by Emmanuel Adegbite
On April 9, 2025, human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong visited the Magistrate Court in the Apapa Magisterial District and later the Kirikiri Minimum Security Custodial Centre in Lagos. He was not alone. Accompanied by a colleague from his law firm, Alabi Quadri’s mother, concerned relatives, and a social activist who first brought the case to public attention, the visit was aimed at verifying the circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of a young man whose story has now become symbolic of a deeper national concern.
Alabi Quadri has been in detention since January. His arrest did not stem from an investigation, a warrant, or a credible report of wrongdoing. Instead, it originated from a petty vendetta. Following a widely circulated video during the 2023 general election, where Alabi was seen standing in front of the convoy of Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, his life took a dramatic turn. That moment of unexpected public visibility, rather than opening doors, made him a target.
According to accounts given by Alabi and his mother, his troubles began when individuals in his neighbourhood self-styled area boys began to demand a share of what they assumed was a financial windfall that came with his sudden media attention. When he failed to meet these imagined expectations, they turned against him. What started as persistent threats quickly escalated into outright hostility. In January, while returning home from work, Alabi was forcibly taken by these men to the Amukoko Police Station, also known as Pako Station, and handed over to the police with vague accusations that he had been involved in local street fights.
Rather than conduct a proper investigation or verify the identity and claims of those who brought him in, the police moved swiftly to charge him along with four individuals he had never met with conspiracy and armed robbery. The allegations were severe. The group was accused of robbing two persons of four mobile phones and a cash sum totalling N579,000, supposedly using cutlasses during the attack.
Alabi, who is a minor, was subsequently arraigned and remanded in Kirikiri Custodial Centre alongside adults. This violates both Nigerian law and international human rights protocols protecting children. Despite being underage and lacking any apparent connection to the crime or the co-accused, he has been taken through three court appearances with the case still in limbo, pending legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.
After spending time with Alabi and reviewing his account, Effiong and his team left the facility with grave concerns about the integrity of the process that led to his detention. The case against him, as it stands, raises serious doubts about the practices of law enforcement, the diligence of preliminary court reviews, and the safeguards meant to protect minors from arbitrary incarceration.
Alabi’s case exposes a sobering reality. Nigeria’s criminal justice system continues to treat poverty, vulnerability, and lack of influence as guilt. It is a system where fabricated allegations can become legal fact, where due process is suspended by pressure or indifference, and where young Nigerians can be buried in the system without notice or outcry.
This is not merely a story about a single boy caught in a web of injustice. It is about the conditions that allow such abuse to thrive unchecked. It is about the lives that are altered forever by careless police procedures, a judiciary often overwhelmed or indifferent, and a society desensitized to the erosion of rights.
The silence surrounding Alabi’s case should concern every citizen. In a democracy, the protection of the vulnerable should be non-negotiable. The treatment of minors should reflect the values enshrined in the constitution and the Child Rights Act. The burden of proof should lie with the accuser, not with a teenager to prove he does not know the men he’s charged alongside.
Efforts are ongoing to secure Alabi’s release, but this should not end with one case. It should lead to sustained scrutiny of how law enforcement agencies handle allegations, particularly those involving minors. It should also reignite discussions around legal reform and institutional accountability.
Alabi Quadri’s case is a tragedy, but it should also serve as a wake-up call. If a boy can be abducted by civilians, wrongly accused, bundled before a magistrate, and remanded without clear evidence or legal backing, then the question is not whether the system is broken but how many more like him are already lost within it.
Justice must not be a privilege accessible only to the powerful or well-connected. It must be a right, protected and upheld for every citizen especially the voiceless.
