Chidozie Ajokuji, a 29-year-old resident of Lagos State who was arrested in 2014 for a robbery he did not commit, has regained his freedom after spending 10 years in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison.

Ayodejixon, an X user, said that Ajokuji, who is also known as Junior, was freed on Thursday after appearing at the Ikeja High Court on Wednesday.

“It’s official now, my people. Junior is finally out,” he wrote in a mixture of English and Yoruba.

READ ALSO: SARS ‘Demanded N5m’ to Free Man Wrongly Arrested for Robbery in 2014. He’s Still in Prison 9 Years After

Ok it’s official now !!!!!!!🙏🙏🙏Eyin Temi Junior is finally out!!!!!!!😭❤️ Fuck shittttt https://t.co/JGNMGTWBJH pic.twitter.com/AQ3CoT6kM6— ————YOMIXX———— (@Ayodejixon) November 21, 2024

BACKGROUND

In December 2023, EQ reported how Ajokuji, now 29 years old, was arrested as part of a robbery syndicate for a crime he knew nothing about. He was arrested alongside Abass Oyeniyi, Peter Oloyede and Prosper Odijeh, who were all charged with robbery and conspiracy.

He was picked up by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad at Abati, Egbeda, while charging his laptop at his landlord’s place. They were accused of stealing a 2010 model Lexus SUV from Yemi Omodele, a lawyer, on December 23, 2013.

Ajokuji pictured on the left. Photo credit: Ayodejixon.

Following his detention, he appeared in court about 50 times but he was only awaiting trial.

The actual robber of the car, simply referred to as Hakeem, was also arrested and later convicted, but Junior and his friends remained in prison.

“Hakeem allegedly attacked Omodele at gunpoint and snatched his car; he took the car to a mechanic to sell for him, but the police saw it at the mechanic’s workshop and when they asked the mechanic who the owner of the car was, he told them that he was the owner and he was arrested,” Modupe Ajokuji, Junior’s mother, told The Punch in April.

“When he discovered that the car was stolen, he confessed that it was Hakeem, who brought it to his workshop to sell, so the police came to arrest Hakeem; unfortunately, my son was inside his apartment charging his laptop when the police came and he and Prosper were arrested alongside Hakeem.”

Modupe said that the police changed the charges against her son and moved to accuse him of internet fraud. Afterwards, the police asked the family to pay a bail fee of N5 million which the family could not afford.

“His family couldn’t get him out from the beginning because SARS was demanding N5 million,” Brownie, an X user, explained in 2020.

“Unfortunately they couldn’t afford such money. His father, John Ajokuji, was a security man, and his mother, Modupe Ajokuji, sold animal feeds by the roadside in Agege. They couldn’t afford a good lawyer to fight for their child.”
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