73-year-old man arrested by EFCC regains freedom after awaiting trial for 13 years (Video)
A 73-year-old man simply known as Nyeche, has been released after spending 13 years and eight months awaiting trial in prison following his arrest.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Comission, EFCC arrested him when he was 60 years old but kept him in prison for more than a decade pending arraignment in court.
Human Rights group, Headfort foundation, which facilitated his release said they took up Nyeche’s after learning of his unjust detention.
In a statement released via its Twitter page, they took up his case after a church member that went for a prison outreach in March 2022 alerted them of his case.
The humanitarian group said the case file of the Septuagenarian went missing and was not before any court between 2019 and 2023.
Headfort Foundation said when his file was finally located at the DPP office, but on the other hand, the EFCC requested an adjournment to prepare for trial and the court granted same.
It reads; “Nyeche, a 73-year-old man, was arrested by EFCC at the age of 70 sic (60), he spent 13years and 8months in prison awaiting trial. We took on his case after being referred by a church that went for prison outreach in March 2022. His case file went missing and he was not before any court between 2019 and 2023.
We traced his file to the DPP office and brought him before a court on 20th October 2023 when he was re-arraigned for the crime of stealing. We argued that Nyeche should be released because he has already served more than the provided sentence for the crime of stealing if found guilty.
On the other hand, the EFCC requested an adjournment to prepare for trial and the court granted same. Then our lawyer applied for his bail and undertook to ensure his presence in court on the next adjourned date. The court granted our application on the ground that we ensure his presence on the next date.
“Finally, on the 20th October, 2023, Pa. Nyeche experienced freedom after 13years and 8months in prison. Support Headfort Foundation to help others stuck in the Nigerian Justice System.”
