New Telegraph 
In four months’ time, it will be exactly 35 years since I had my first very nasty experience with how the system in Nigeria is skewed against the meek especially when it concerns them and the powers that be!
For those not aware of what happened on that day of May 29, 1991, yours truly (then working with The Guardian) was in the office hoping to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia and Marseille of France when I was asked to drive to the Lagos State Police Headquarters at 1, Oduduwa Street, Ikeja GRA to perfect the bail of our arrested Crime Reporter, Ben Akparanta.
However, little did I know then that what I thought was an innocuous errand was to keep me away from my house for more than two weeks, in the lead to the closure of The Guardian and eventually land me in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre!
Unknown to me, the administration of Gen. Raji Rasaki (rtd) had a beef to pick with The Flagship over its caustic reporting of his government’s handling of the eviction of the Maroko residents which took place during the rainy season and was only waiting for an opportunity to wield the sledge hammer.
The final straw was Guardian Express’ reportage of the protest that rocked the Yaba College of Technology in which two students were killed. Incidentally, although the Evening Times also had the same story on its front page, it was only The Guardian Express that felt the wrath of the Lagos State Government, which not only arrested those involved in the production of the article, including Bayo Oguntimehin (Editor), Akparanta, Taiwo Akerele (Sub-Editor) and myself, but also proceeded to shut down The Guardian newspapers.
After spending two nights, first at the Police headquarters and then the Motor Traffic Division, we were taken to an Ike- ja Magistrate Court on Friday where we were remanded at Kirikiri for about 12 days before finally being granted bail on June 11.
This short trip down memory lane shows that we, as a people, are adverse to change because three decades later such is still happening as recently recounted by Comrade Emmanuel Acha, who only recently regained his freedom after vanishing into the bowels of Nigeria’s custodial system for more than 200 days.
Acha, who narrated his ordeal on Friday, January 16, is the Chairperson of the Enugu State Civil Society Network, and was arrested early last year after deciding to legally challenge the Ebonyi State Government over its handling of the protracted Effium Ezza land dispute in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.
Court records show that in December 2024, Acha instituted a legal action against the Ebonyi State Government under Federal High Court Suit No: FHC/AI/CS/ FHR/221/24, questioning the state’s approach to the communal crisis.
However, he was arrested in Enugu State under circumstances his supporters described as an‘abduction’. The Ebonyi State Government later charged him with illegal possession of arms and other offences, linking him to communal violence.
Civil society organisations consistently maintained that the charges were politically motivated and intended to punish him for challenging government actions through lawful means. Reflecting on his incarceration, which lasted 273 days, he painted a grim picture of systemic neglect.
“In the custodial centre, I experienced severe psychological distress, exacerbated by an unhealthy environment, unhygienic food and inadequate medical care,” Acha recounted.
“The living conditions were deplorable, marked by severe overcrowding and poor sanitation. During my detention, I witnessed numerous preventable deaths among inmates.”
Acha said his ordeal began in the ear- ly hours of March 19, 2025, when he was allegedly abducted from his residence in Enugu by heavily armed, unidentified security operatives.
“At about 5.30am, I was unlawfully ab- ducted from my home without any arrest warrant,” he said. “I was handcuffed and treated like a common criminal.”
He was later held incommunicado at the Ebonyi State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he was denied access by his family and legal counsel and allegedly subjected to physical and psychological torture.
On March 21, 2025, Acha was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Abakaliki without legal representation and remand- ed at the Abakaliki Custodial Centre.
“I spent 271 days in prison under in- humane conditions that violated every known human rights standard,” he stated.
While my ordeal took place when the nation was under military rule, Acha’s own happened under civil rule, which one would have expected to be more human rights compliant!
But Acha’s and my experiences are only a tip of the iceberg when it comes to such issues as only God knows the hundreds, if not thousands, of other Nigerians who have faced the same harrowing problem without the system ensuring it never happened in the first instance.
However, ‘illegal’ detentions are not the only problems being faced by many citizens as repeated reports of face-offs between Police officers and Nigerians have shown. Of course most of them centre on the frequent shake down of citizens by the men in uniform.
Only last week, Jude Egbas, the Deputy Editor of the TheCable narrated how he was forced to part with N150, 000 by po- lice officers attached to the Otolo Nnewi Divisional Police Headquarters in Anambra State as ‘bail’.
However, the inequality also extends to other spheres of the society including for instance when it comes to courts passing sentences at the end of a case.
It is crystal clear that although it is universally accepted that justice is supposed to be blind in order to ensure proper punishment for offenders, be they the high and mighty or the downtrodden, in Nigeria it is not the case with the so called big men often being given more lenient sentences compared to the other end of the class spectrum.
Thus, a man will steal a chicken and will be given a mind- boggling lengthy sentence while another will steal billions and will only be given a rap on the knuckles for his indiscretion.
Even the way accused persons are brought to court shows the system is skewed against the average Nigerian. While the proverbial ‘poor man’ is often brought to court in a paddy wagon, in leg chains and handcuffs, the ‘big man’ comes to court in a car looking like someone who had just left a five-star hotel!
Unfortunately, until we collectively decide enough is enough and things need to change for the better, for the generality of the people, we will still be having this lamentation conversation in 35 years’ time!
