A 73-year-old man, Nyeche, who has spent 13 years and eight months awaiting trial in prison after he was arrested by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives, has finally regained his freedom.
According to the Human Rights group, Herdfort Foundation, which secured his release, Nyeche was arrested when he was 60.
In a statement, the body said they took up his case after a church member who went for a prison outreach in March 2022 alerted them of his case.
The NGO said Nyeche’s case file went missing and was not before any court between 2019 and 2023.
In a post made via X, the foundation wrote, ‘’We traced his file to the DPP office and brought him before a court on October 20, 2023, when he was re-arraigned for stealing. We argued that Nyeche should be released because he has already served more than the provided sentence for stealing if found guilty.”
On the other hand, the NGO said that the EFCC requested an adjournment to prepare for trial, and the court granted the same.
‘’Our lawyer applied for his bail and undertook to ensure his presence in court on the next adjourned date. The court granted our application on the ground that we ensured his presence on the next date. Finally, on October 20, 2023, Pa. Nyeche experienced freedom after 13 years and 8 months in prison.”
