Stephen Etule, a 30-year-old Nigerian man, has spent eight years in the notorious Kirikiri Prison in Lagos, not for any crime he committed, but for his inability to pay a bribe of N200,000 demanded by officers of the Nigerian Police Force.
Etule, who was just 22 when his ordeal began in 2017, spoke to SaharaReporters in an exclusive interview on Thursday, recounting how his life was upended during a police raid in the Ajah area of Lagos. At the time, he was working at a mechanic workshop, struggling to make ends meet.
In the raid, Etule claimed that the police officers, without provocation, arrested everyone in sight, including him. He and the others were immediately taken to the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) facility. The officers allegedly demanded a bribe of N200,000 for his release.
“I was in my workshop when the police arrived. They raided everyone in the area and arrested us all, taking us straight to SARS,” Etule explained. “They told me they would release me if I paid N200,000. I didn’t have that money. I didn’t even know what my offense was. I’m not a criminal. I told them if I had the money, I would pay, but I didn’t.”
Etule’s failure to pay the bribe led to him being thrown into prison. He was never arraigned, nor was his family informed of his arrest. “I’ve been in Kirikiri for eight years now, with no trial, no help, and no opportunity to defend myself,” Etule said.
Etule’s family, back in Ibadan, Oyo State, had no idea of his fate. “We thought he was in Lagos hustling,” his brother told SaharaReporters. “We had no communication with him, and when we couldn’t reach him, we assumed he was living somewhere else. We stopped searching after a few years.”
The family was shocked to learn, years later, that Etule had been languishing in prison all this time. “We found out through his uncle’s SIM card after his parents died—his mum from illness and his father from depression,” his brother shared. “He has been in prison for eight years for something he didn’t do.”
Etule’s case highlights a troubling trend within Nigeria’s criminal justice system, where individuals, often from impoverished backgrounds, are arrested without cause, denied access to legal representation, and imprisoned indefinitely without trial. Meanwhile, corrupt police officers exploit the system to extort money from victims.
The notorious SARS unit, which once operated with impunity, was disbanded in October 2020 after the #EndSARS protests. Yet, even after its dissolution, police brutality and extrajudicial practices continue in other units of the Nigerian Police Force, leaving many victims without justice.
Despite the disbandment of SARS, Etule’s case is just one of many that illustrate the need for comprehensive police reform in Nigeria, and it serves as a grim reminder of the ongoing abuse in the nation’s criminal justice system.
Saharareporters
