“If they had disclosed his real age, the magistrate would have probably queried them. Police do it all the time. They have done it in other cases I have handled. It is not a new thing.”
Yusuf Alabi Quadri, the teenager who gained fame in 2023 for standing before Peter Obi’s convoy, has been held at Kirikiri Correctional Centre for over three months without trial. His lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, alleges police altered his age to 18 to avoid legal scrutiny, stating: “They wrote 18 years so the court wouldn’t question them.” Quadri’s health has deteriorated, with Effiong describing him as “depressed and emaciated.”
Effiong dismissed claims Quadri was involved in armed robbery, revealing he was charged alongside five strangers. “How can you commit a crime with people you don’t know?” he argued, blaming “area boys” and police collusion. The lawyer emphasized the case reflects systemic failures, not political persecution, despite Quadri’s viral support for Obi.
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