Man narrates how he was imprisoned for 15yrs for a murder he didn't commit

A 40yr old man identified as Effiong Elemi-Edu has narrated how he was imprisoned for 15 years for the murder of politician, Alfred Rewane, which it was later discovered that he was not to involved in.

Narrating his ordeal to Aljazeera, Effiong  who is from Cross Rivers, said on October 6th 1995 in the Ikeja part of Lagos state, he had gone out to buy suya for himself and his wife when suddenly he heard gunshots. According to him, he took cover and later decided to run to his house. As he made the move to run home, he was halted by an order from a police officer.



"I stopped. There were police officers, lots of them."

They asked him where he was going and he told them but instead of letting him go on his way, the officers pushed him into their vehicle and accused him of being an armed robber.

"I didn't understand what they meant because I was not carrying any weapon on me, just the money I was going to use to buy suya. They took us, myself and one other guy to SARS [Special Anti-Robbery Squad] at Ikeja, where they kept me under a tree. Later, they came and took me to the 'theatre'. There, there were two drums filled with sand. I was tied like a goat, two of my hands at my back; they crossed an iron rod at my back, and then hanged me" He said he hung in that position for One hour, 20 minutes.

"They tried to force me to admit I was an armed robber - they even shot me in the leg. I have never robbed anyone in my life. I was just a young man struggling to save money to get admission into a higher institution to further my education."

Effiong who had a dream of becoming a mass communicator had his hope dashed because an influential politician Delta state, Alfred Rewane, had been assassinated that morning by unknown gunmen at his residence in Ikeja GRA, a few hundred metres from Effiong's home.

Effiong was in the wrong place at the wrong time

"They held me for days. There was no phone at that time and there was no way for me to get in touch with my family. It was my wife who learned about it. I think the people who saw me when I was taken away told her. Then she travelled home to inform my mother. They wanted me to copy a statement they had written to say that I am an armed robber and that‎ I conspired with the others in the murder of Rewane. I refused. They beat me till my face was covered with blood which was pouring from my left ear.‎ I didn't want to die, so I recopied the statement in my own handwriting. The statement is what they used in implicating us. As I was recopying the statement, the only thing on my mind was that I didn't do anything and that my God will let everyone know the truth. It was later that one of the‎ policemen came to tell us that he was sorry, that it was an order from above.‎ Later, they charged eight of us with the murder of the man. I don't know the man, never heard of him. Those that I was charged with murder with, I had never seen any of them in my life."he said.

After being tortured and forced to admit guilt, seven of the men were arraigned before a high court, and sent to Kirikiri prison to await trial. But when the men arrived at the prison, prison officials insisted that the police take them to hospital to have their wounds treated. Instead, they took them to a police station - where four of the men subsequently died, reportedly due to the injuries sustained while being tortured by the police.

"The torture and suffering were too much," Effiong reflects.

Rewane's killing was later linked to the military junta of Nigeria's then dictator, the late Sani Abacha. But Effiong and two other men - Elvis Irenuma and Lucky Igbinovia, who had both worked for Rewane - continued to languish in prison.

Then, after 15 years, more than 200 adjournments and the prosecution's inability to produce any evidence linking the suspects to the crime‎, the trial judge discharged the case and acquitted the suspects, upholding a 'no case submission' made by the defence counsel.

"It appears to me that all the pol