Seventeen-year-old Quadri Yusuf Alabi — once hailed as a symbol of youthful courage during the 2023 elections for bravely standing before Peter Obi’s convoy — has finally been released after spending nearly three months behind bars on a false armed robbery charge.
Quadri was discharged on Wednesday by a Magistrate Court in Apapa, Lagos, after the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) declared there was no evidence linking him to the alleged crime.
His ordeal began on January 26, 2025, when he was arrested and sent to the Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre. According to his lawyer, renowned human rights advocate Inibehe Effiong, Quadri was abducted by two notorious area boys — known as Lege and Baba Waris — in his Amukoko neighborhood. The duo had previously harassed him over donations he received after his viral moment during the 2023 campaign season.
“Quadri was returning from work when he was forcibly taken. These men had been threatening him for not sharing the money people gave him,” Effiong explained in a Facebook post. “They even pressured his family to offer a cow, rice, and food to ‘settle’ them — a demand encouraged by the community leader, the Baale.”
Initially accused of participating in a local street brawl, Quadri’s situation escalated when the police from the Amukoko Divisional Headquarters upgraded the charges to armed robbery — a move widely seen as a deliberate setup. They also altered his age from 17 to 18 to bypass juvenile protections and grouped him with four adults he had no ties to.
It wasn’t until last week that his case drew attention from Ray of Hope Prison Outreach co-founder Hassana Nurudeen, prompting Effiong’s legal team to intervene. After a review of the DPP’s findings, which recommended no prosecution, Magistrate A.O. Olorunfemi discharged Quadri.
Effiong has now called for serious consequences for the officers involved, including the Divisional Police Officer at Amukoko and Inspector Odigbe Samuel. He’s demanding a public apology and ₦100 million in compensation from the Nigeria Police Force — or he will proceed with legal action.
“Quadri’s story reflects the depth of corruption, cruelty, and impunity in the Nigerian policing system,” Effiong said. “How many more Quadris are rotting in cells across Nigeria simply because they have no one to fight for them?”
Now reunited with his family, Quadri’s painful journey has reignited national calls for urgent police reform and accountability in Nigeria’s broken justice system.
