#EndSARS: Borno Youth Regains Freedom After 15 Months
Fifteen months after being arrested and wrongly detained for taking part in the #EndSARS protest, Peter John, regained freedom.
According to John, he was arrested on October 23, 2020 on his way to work but set free 15 months after his arrest.
“I had a horrible experience in prison. I was arrested for what I didn’t do. I was not arrested at any riot venue. I was arrested days after the riot on my way to work at Lekki new market,” he said.
The young man said he thought that he was going to die in prison because of hunger and beating from “senior” prisoners.
While emphasizing that he suffered for an offence he knew nothing about, the 23-year-old said, “They arrested me at Lekki Phase I. I was arrested because of the #EndSARS protest that I never took part in.
“They told me that I was part of those that caused riots in Lagos State. They also said I was part of those that burnt government properties. These are lies.
“I saw many bad things in the prison. I also learnt how to praise God and stay with people in difficult times. I have many painful experiences to share.
“I really suffered there. It was a very painful experience. I almost died of hunger. A lot of people die of hunger there. Prisoners cannot even consume the kind of food they give to us. They give us food two times a day. In the morning, they give us beans and you dare eat the beans, you will fall sick and suffer diarrhea. After the beans, they will give us Garri (cassava) in the evening.
“I fell seriously sick in the prison. If not for God and my family, I should have been dead. I wouldn’t have been alive to grant this interview. Some people who are seniors in the cell do beat us. They also send us on errands.
“Kirikiri prison is a place where you must do everything you are asked to do. You have no freedom. You will be severely beaten if you resist, your human rights don’t matter, and you can’t say anything.”
John said it took the intervention of his parents and human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, for him to regain freedom.
“I thank God that the lawyer helped me out. He also helped others. I have really suffered a lot. We are plenty that they arrested. Many innocent people are in the prison because of EndSARS. Some are still there as we speak,” he added.
