When
the 28-year-old Ghanaian, Mohammed Ibrahim, set out for Nigeria in July 2003,
he never knew he was going to walk through the valley of death. He did not only
become a tenant of the Nigerian prisons for 10 years; he was also on death roll
all through the period. But, on June 9, 2015, 10 years after he began his
sojourn in the Nigerian Prison as a condemned prisoner; he triumphantly walked
out of the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos, as a free man.
Following
an armed robbery incident at his employer’s residence on March 6, 2005, he was
arrested for complicity in the crime. He later appeared before a High Court in
Ibadan, Oyo State to answer to the charges of conspiracy and armed robbery.
A
native of Volta region in Ghana, Mohammed, who came to Nigeria in July 2003, when
he was just 18 never intended to stay. He was in Nigeria to collect his school
fees from his mother who was then living in Ibadan, having lost his father when
he was three.
But,
his mother’s inability to promptly provide his school fees so that he could
back to Ghana to continue his education was the genesis of what could have sadly
ended his life. His mother suggested that he should work as a house boy for six
months and earn some money to be able to go back to school.
Left
with no alternative, Mohammed accepted the offer. He was eventually employed as
a houseboy by one Mrs Omolara Adebimpe. He said his mother’s friend contacted a woman, who linked him
with Mrs Adebimpe as a houseboy.
He
started work as a houseboy for Mrs Adebimpe in November 2004 with a monthly
salary of N3500. His job description included such domestic works as washing of
cars, clothes as well as gate-keeping among other menial duties that Madam
Adebimpe would want him to do. They also agreed that he would only serve her
for six months at the end of which he would receive the salary for six months.
Excitedly, Mohammed threw himself into the work.
Genesis of his ordeals
Everything
seemed to be working according to plan until March 6, 2005, when men of the
underworld attacked Mrs Adebimpe’s compound. From that night, everything
changed.
Narrating
his ordeal, Mohammed said: “On March 6, 2005, barely four months after I
started working with her, a gang of armed robbers attacked our residence. I was
inside the boy’s quarters where I slept, when the woman’s dogs started barking
around 1:00am. Though, I was not a security man but since there was no security
man employed in the house, I thought it wise to look outside and know why the
dogs were barking. But, while I was outside looking around to see what the
problem was, a man suddenly appeared from my back, called my attention and when
I looked back, he pointed a gun at my forehead and ordered me to lock the dogs.
Under gun point, I approached the dogs and because I was used to them, I
quietly and easily locked them up.
“The
robbers had scaled the fence to come into the compound. With the dogs locked
up, they entered into the main building where they robbed my madam. For close
to one hour that the robbery operation lasted, I was taken hostage by one of
the gang members, after they had thoroughly beaten me up because I could not
provide any money for them. As the operation was still going on, I didn’t know
how the local vigilantes in the area got wind of what was happening. They
started blowing their whistle to alert their members of what was happening and
that forced the robbers to flee the scene. But, before they left, they took me
along with them. They said they were going to sell me to realize the money
their boss asked them to get from the operation.
“As
we were going, I continued to shout and beg them to have mercy on me. I guess,
they were disturbed by the noise coming from me and they felt it could betray
them, so they pushed me out of the vehicle by the road side and zoomed off.
“I
trekked to my mother’s house to report what happened. She then took me back to
Mrs Adebimpe’s house but instead of thanking God that I came back alive, she
reported to the police and accused me of conniving with the robbers to attack
her residence. I was arrested alongside my mother but when we got to the Oyo
State Police Criminal Investigation Department, (CID) at Iyagankun, Ibadan, my
mother was released while I was detained.”