Quadri Yusuf Alabi, the 17-year-old who captured national attention during the 2023 general elections after boldly standing in front of the convoy of Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, has recounted the harrowing details of his detention at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison.
It would be recalled that Alabi was discharged on Thursday by Magistrate A. O. Olorunfemi of the Apapa Magistrate Court following legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr Babajide Martins, which found no evidence linking the teenager to the alleged crime of armed robbery.
According to his lawyer, human rights activist Inibehe Effiong, Alabi was abducted near his home in Amukoko, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area, by two well-known street touts in the area known as Lege and Baba Waris.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Alabi recounted the moment that marked the beginning of his ordeal, his arrest by the police following an incident in his community.
Quadri explained that he had no idea that a conflict had broken out in his area the day he was arrested. Returning home from his job as a motor boy, he was ambushed by local area boys, who handed him over to the police.
“Since the viral campaign picture surfaced, it seems like some people have been keeping a close watch on me.
“Someone even threatened my mum, saying that the money they had given me would be split in two, or else she wouldn’t see me again. They warned that they would kidnap me and take me somewhere she couldn’t even use the money,” he said, recalling the fear and confusion surrounding his sudden capture.
Upon reaching the police station, Alabi found himself locked in a cell with older men he didn’t know. He was later transferred to the notorious Kirikiri prison, where his nightmare deepened.
“At the station, they locked me up in a cell with people I didn’t know. They were older men I had never met before, and I was the youngest among them,” he recalled, his voice tinged with the pain of the experience.
He added, “In Kirikiri, my daily task was to clean up faeces from morning until six in the evening because I couldn’t afford to pay the marshall.”