After enduring seven harrowing years of unjust confinement, 40-year-old Uche Nnoli finally tasted the sweet nectar of freedom on Thursday. Nnoli, a native of Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area, Anambra State, was imprisoned at the Onitsha Correctional Centre due to a tumultuous community dispute.
Throughout his ordeal, Nnoli faced further torment as he was shuffled between the Onitsha Correctional Centre and the Ogwashi Ukwu Correctional Centre in Delta State. His prolonged suffering came to an end thanks to the relentless efforts of the Human Rights Protection Service, a dedicated advocacy group based in Naples, USA.
The group’s unwavering commitment to justice and their provision of free legal services shattered the chains that bound Nnoli, allowing him to reclaim his long-lost freedom and restore his hope in humanity.
Prince Chinedu Ekwunife, Chairman of the Anambra State chapter of Human Rights Protection Service, passionately addressed reporters upon Nnoli’s release on Thursday. He revealed that they were alerted to Nnoli’s plight when his anguished wife and mother tearfully appealed for help, describing his prolonged detention without trial as a grave injustice. Taking immediate action, they assumed responsibility for his case.
Ekwunife said, “We made a lot of impact and went to Onitsha Correctional Centre and it happened that he had been transferred to Ogwashi Ukwu Correctional Centre in Delta State which did not fall within the jurisdiction of the matter.
“With the help of our legal team, he was returned back to Onitsha Correctional Centre and the matter was charged to Otuocha High Court 2 and the Presiding Judge, Justice Okey Onunkwu, after examining the case, struck it out and released him.
“He has since rejoined his family and we, as a body commend the presiding Judge and the Nigerian judiciary for rekindling the hope of the common man. This shows that the rights of a common man remain protected under the law.
He passionately decried the deplorable condition of the Correctional Centres in Anambra, emphasizing the critical need for immediate improvements to the facilities.
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“Anambra State Correctional Centres are nothing good to write home about because the facilities need to be maintained and the decaying ones renovated. The medical services and facilities there are almost non-existent.
“The organisation has concluded arrangements to establish skills acquisition centres at the correctional centres as well as improving on the facilities. We are commencing the establishment of skill acquisition centres and this is aimed at training the inmates so that they become gainfully employed and so that they do not go back to crime when they are released.
“We have been relying on our individual contributions as like minds as well as public-spirited individuals to help us achieve these programmes,” he added.
The officials of the correctional centre declined to speak to journalists on the development, saying they were not authorised to do so.
The PUNCH
