Keke driver, Wisdom Elijah, shared his experience of being imprisoned for nearly a year due to his friend’s slippers. Wisdom, who was working in Port Harcourt with a tricycle he had on hire purchase, was arrested on January 6, 2024, and released on December 3, 2024.
He explained that after finishing work for the day, his friends, who were attending a party, asked him to drop them off. On his way back, his tricycle ran out of fuel, so he took a keg and asked a friend to accompany him to buy fuel from a local woman. After purchasing the fuel, his friend, whose slippers had torn, left his broken slippers and wore a new pair he found outside the woman’s house.
Wisdom said he wasn’t aware of his friend’s action until the woman confronted them. She accused them of theft, and despite their apologies, she called them thieves. Her husband then appeared and called the police. They were arrested shortly after.
At first, Wisdom thought it was a minor issue, believing they would be out soon. However, things escalated when they were charged in court. The court granted them bail, but one of the conditions was that they must pay N80,000. While waiting to fulfill the bail, the court closed for the day, and they were taken to prison.
His friend’s family raised the money and bailed him out after three days. However, Wisdom had no one to help him, as he couldn’t reach anyone to pay the N80,000 or stand as his surety. With no access to a phone, he remained in prison for months. He was placed in the worst cell, where food and water were scarce.
Videos taken after his release show Wisdom in poor health, emaciated and receiving medical attention. Despite being released, he didn’t reveal how he finally gained his freedom from prison.
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