How a welder was arrested and sent to prison while cutting grasses to earn money for survival.
By Naomisophysblog
A young man who spent some months in prison custody after he was found with a cutlass while cutting grass and eventually arrested by policemen has regained his freedom.
The man, whose name was given as Salaudeen, an Ogun State indigene, said to be a welder, was living with his uncle in Ayetoro area of the state before his arrest.
According to reports, on March 26, 2023, he left his uncle’s place to look for a job in Abeokuta, the state capital, but after spending a week and could not get any, he decided to return to Ayetoro.
For the time he was in Abeokuta looking for a job, he was said to be sleeping inside a church and on the day he wanted to return to Ayetoro, he had no money on him, so he decided to do a menial job.
He eventually found a place to cut grasses and after agreement on payment with the people in the area, he told them he would come to cut the grasses on the second day.
His problem however began on the second day when he took a cutlass from the church which he intended to use to cut the grasses and headed for where he wanted to work.
However, while cutting the grass, some people accosted him and after asking him some questions, he was taken to a police station where he was detained after the policemen asked him where he got the cutlass from and his explanations fell on deaf ears.
He was eventually charged to court on a one-count offence of being armed in order to cause terror, a charge to which he pleaded not guilty.
He was granted bail but he was not able to meet the bail conditions due to financial constraints and he was eventually remanded in prison custody.
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His plight was announced by a foundation that usually visits prisons and courts, the Headfort Foundation (Prison Reform Initiative), on its Twitter handle on Monday which added that a court registrar referred his matter to the foundation and one of its lawyers began to represent him in court.
However, the case was said to have suffered various adjournments as the police could not produce any witness or complainant in court The lawyer later applied that the case be struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
The court granted the prayer, discharged and acquitted Salaudeen over the matter.
Below are screenshots of some of the tweets by the foundation on the issue:
