A Lagos State High Court has ordered the immediate and unconditional release of a man held without trial for eight years, issuing one of the year’s most forceful rebukes of unlawful detention in Nigeria. The ruling, delivered on 22 October 2025 by Justice Adenike K. Shonubi, also awarded damages against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police for the prolonged violation of the detainee’s fundamental rights.
The applicant, Mr. Sewedo Folorunsho, was arrested in 2012 over an alleged murder and held in a congested police cell for five years before being arraigned on a mere holding charge at the Ebute Metta Magistrate Court in 2017. No formal charge was ever filed in the High Court, leaving him effectively trapped in custody for nearly a decade.
Represented by the chambers of Monday O. Ubani, SAN & Co., Mr. Folorunsho sought enforcement of his constitutional rights, naming the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General of Lagos State, and the Deputy Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service as respondents.
In a sharply worded judgment, Justice Shonubi condemned the detention as “a gross violation of the rights to personal liberty, human dignity, and fair hearing guaranteed under the Constitution.” The court ordered his release and imposed ₦500,000 in damages on the police commissioner.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria M. O. Ubani, whose firm handled the case, praised the ruling as “a victory for human rights, justice, and the sanctity of liberty in Nigeria.” He noted that the case underscores the danger of unchecked state power and the urgent need for reform.
SSS Orders Separate Release and Compensation
In a separate development highlighting similar concerns, the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Adeola Ajayi, ordered the release of Mr. Kenneth Nwafor, who spent three years in detention after being wrongfully accused of belonging to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Sources within the SSS told Premium Times that a fresh investigation exonerated Mr. Nwafor of any links to IPOB. The agency awarded him ₦5 million in compensation and offered free medical care — part of a directive by the director-general to review all inherited cases for due process violations.
The move follows the October release and ₦10 million compensation awarded to another detainee, Mrs. Chineze Ozoadibe, an Abuja businesswoman wrongly accused of oil bunkering.
Growing Scrutiny of Security Agencies
Nigeria’s security agencies have faced long-standing criticism over arbitrary arrests and excessive force, particularly in the South-east, where the government continues to confront separatist agitation. Human rights groups say abuses frequently go unpunished, while wrongful detentions often stretch for years without judicial oversight.
IPOB, whose leader Nnamdi Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism in November, has denied involvement in a series of violent attacks across the region. Rights monitors, however, have documented repeated cases in which civilians were killed or detained under the broad label of belonging to or supporting the group.
The twin developments — the High Court judgment and the SSS’s recent actions — are being hailed by advocates as rare but significant steps toward accountability. They say the cases underscore an urgent national conversation about policing, detention, and the protection of constitutional freedoms.
