Stories of Police brutality are not unusual in this part of the world. Young men and women brutally handled, unjustly detained and moved to prisons without trial – many times for the weakest reasons possible. A build up of repeated cases led to mass outcries and several protests in different parts of the country over the years. This build-up of cases led to the “END SARS” campaign which rocked most of 2018 and 2019. While the cry to “END SARS” was focused on putting a stop to the occurrence of police brutality, this team of women at the Headfort Foundation focused on the victims; people who had been incarcerated and suffered unjustly; some without the knowledge of their family members. In one year, this team of women have successfully secured the release of one hundred wrongly accused victims.

In this interview, we speak with some beneficiaries of the Headfort Foundation as the organization marks it’s first year of formal existence. We also speak with  the Founder and her team about the work they do and the milestones achieved.

Meet Dauda Oni, a beneficiary of the Headfort Project 2019 as he shares his story and how he came in contact with the Headfort Foundation team:

“I was arrested in front of my house.  My mother was not aware at that time but I called her when I got to the prison. Five months later,  I met the Headfort Foundation when they came for prison visitation and since then, they have been appearing in court for me. They represented me and my case mates for free in court and also assisted me to contact my mother. They also took steps to perfect my bail. It took 5 months before I was acquitted. My advice is that we should all be careful in all we do. I was picked up in front of my house without doing anything and was charged for cultism. We should be mindful of how we dress and how we chose to look in order to avoid situations like this. It has not been easy so far. No one wants to associate with me despite knowing fully well I was raided unjustly.”

Kingsley Igberasa, is a beneficiary of the Headfort Foundation’s efforts and also shares his story and lessons learnt along the way.
“My advice is that everyone be mindful of who we try to assist. I assisted a woman who claimed someone had snatched her bag and she turned around to accuse me of stealing her phones. I was arrested and my family members were not aware I was in custody. I met Headfort Foundation when they came for prison visitation. They represented me and my case mates in court for free and bailed me out. It took 8 months before I was acquitted. Our judicial system really needs to improve to ensure that cases do not  linger in court for long. It has not been easy so far. I have neither been able to come back on my feet nor secure a job.”

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Tobi Ayeni shares his story of unjust incarceration and eventual acquittal.

“I was arrested when I went to buy milk. My parents were not aware at the time but eventually, I called my mother when I got to the prison. I was in jail till I met the Headfort Foundation team during their prison visitation. They assessed my case and began appearing in court on my behalf- all for free. They also helped me to contact my father. They took the steps to perfect my bail. It took me 13 months before I was acquitted. The judicial system is not good. I was detained for more than a year for not doing anything, sometimes, I wasn’t taken to court and the adjournment period extended having full knowledge that I had still been in custody. The system needs to improve by scrutinizing the type of cases they allow to linger in court for an unnecessarily long time.

My advice is that we should all be careful in all we do. I was picked up in my streets where I went to buy milk and was charged for cultism. It doesn’t matter where you are or what time of the day it is, we all need to be careful and try to avoid the police men. It has not been easy so far. I have not been able to get another place to work since I came out.

Oluyemi is the founder of the Headfort Foundation. Here she shares a bit about herself and the work done at the foundation:

I am Oluyemi Orija, a legal practitioner, entrepreneur and human rights advocate. I am a founding partner at a law firm called Headfort Chambers. I am also the founder of the Headfort Foundation; a non-profit organization positioned to offer free legal services to indigent and wrongly incarcerated inmates. During the course of working with some law firms in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States, I have been to court on several occasions and seen people being charged for things as flimsy as breaking crates of eggs and they get returned to  prison because they had no lawyer to defend them. At that point, I could not represent them because of the contract I had with my employers which stated clearly that I could not take up any cases except cases of the firm I worked for. I eventually went on to set up my own practice called the Headfort Chambers (in 2015) which operated for a while before I set up the Headfort Foundation on the 19th of March 2019. As we mark our first year anniversary, I am thankful for the goals my team and I have accomplished this year. We have successfully secured the release and perfected the bail of one hundred unjustly incarcerated victims.

Hairat Busola Suleiman is a legal practitioner and the Project Director at Headfort Foundation

When asked about what she would like the government to do better regarding the issue of victimization of citizens by some police officers, she replied:

“There are some good police officers but there are quite a number of bad ones that give the force a bad name. My position is that we establish an independent commission of inquiry with subpoena power to conduct a transparent, comprehensive and impartial investigation into systematic corruption within the Nigeria Police force. Prosecute without delay and according to international fair trial standards, any police officer implicated in corruption and other serious abuses. It will also help to improve financial oversight of the financial affairs of the Nigerian police force”

Ogunrotimi Oluwaseun Eunice is a Legal Officer at the Hedgefort Foundation. This is what she had to say to the public on the subject of unjust incarceration:

“A lot of people today, are being accused and convicted for offences they know nothing about because they do not know the legal implications of pleading guilty to such offences. Some are even made to sign statements they neither wrote nor understood at the police station. There are also cases where some are promised freedom and made to confess to offences they didn’t commit. All these amongst many more are still prevalent in our society.

The Headfort foundation needs support in terms of funds and able volunteers in order to be able to better carry out it’s objective of not only interceding but also enabling a smooth transition of these people after they have regained their freedom.”

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