A shaft of pain knifed through his facial
contours as he recounted the grisly
experiences he had in prison for more than
23 years.
Prior to 1989, Calistus Ike had dreamt of
becoming a very successful business man.
Little did he know that he was going to
spend seven years as an awaiting trial
inmate and another 16 years on the death
row.
As the first son and bread winner of his
family at that time, Ike, had all his dreams
quashed after he was sentenced to death
following his refusal to pay N200 bribe to
the policeman that investigated an
allegation against him.
Luck
however
shone on
him when
through
the
intervention of a France- based human right
group, Avocats Sans Frontieres, ASFF, also
known as ‘Lawyers Without Borders France’,
the Edo state government, pardoned him
and approved his release from prison in
2012.
Reliving the harrowing times he had in jail
and circumstances that led to his conviction
with Saturday Vanguard, this disconsolate
erstwhile death row inmate, insisted that he
was innocent of the allegation that left him
at the mercy of the hang-man, even as he
called for a total overhaul of the criminal
justice system in Nigeria.
Describing himself as a “lucky-survivor”, Ike,
who is now in his early fifties, stressed that
so many innocent Nigerians are currently
languishing in various prison facilities
across the federation.
“The unfortunate thing is that some of the
people I left in prison did not even have a
case-file. Some of them had stayed as
‘awaiting-trial’ inmates for more than 10
years”, he lamented.
Narrating the story of his life, Ike said: “It
happened to me in the year 1989. I was
resident in Benin, the Edo state capital.
There was a man that lived in the same
compound with me. His wife had stomach
problem and he asked me to lead him to
somewhere to collect a root(herbal
medicine) for his wife.
”We went there about 5pm. After escorting
him to the place where he collected the
medicine, I returned to my house.
”The next day, I went to do my business. I
did not know that the same man had
engaged police to look for me and the other
man that gave him the root, a man I didn’t
even know. When I heard that police came
to look for me, I inquired about the station
they came from and went there myself. ”I
reported myself and asked why they came
to look for me.
They told me that there was an allegation
that I conspired with the man we collected
medicine from his house and broke into my
neighbour’s house- who was the same man
I accompanied to get the roots for his wife-
and stole his properties.
”I never knew that they had equally arrested
the man that gave us the root.
Thereafter, the policeman handling the case
insisted that I must write a confessional
statement otherwise he would deal with me.
I refused to write anything. I told him that I
would only narrate the exact thing that
happened.
”It was at that juncture that he started
beating me with ‘Koboko’. He flogged me
mercilessly that day. I was tortured until the
D.P.O in charge of the station asked him to
stop and just take my statement.
”After I gave them my statement, the same
policeman that flogged me, came back and
said that he could not find any evidence to
pin the alleged crime on me. He said that he
had concluded all the investigations and
found nothing against me.
”However, he said I should give him N200
so that he would drop the case and allow
me to go home. Remember, we are talking
about 1989. As at that time, that amount
was big money to me.
So, I told him I had no such money to give
out. I stood my ground that I was innocent
of the charge and even asked them to take
me to court if indeed they thought that I
had a case to answer.
”Within two days, the policeman took the
matter to court. We went to court, at the
Magistrate court, the policeman freed the
other man I was accused with and pinned
the whole charge on me.
”From the Magistrate court, he took me to
the Military Tribunal where the case
changed overnight.
From the original allegation of ‘burglary and
theft’, I was charged with armed robbery.
”Whereas the Policeman and that my
compound man whose properties were
allegedly stolen, as well as his wife, testified
before Tribunal, I had no one to testify for
me. I was left with only God and no one else.
”After a long run of the trial, I was convicted
and sentenced to death for a crime I never
committed or even imagined. I never for
once had such dream for my life, but I was
condemned to death.
”Nonetheless, my faith in God never
wavered, I kept asking him to vindicate me.
I was in death sentence cell in Edo state for
over 14 years. After then, I was transferred
to Enugu prison.
”One day, I was there, inside the prison with
other inmates when information got to me
that there were some people from France
that were helping inmates in Benin prison. I
quickly called my brother and asked him to
take my plight to those people, maybe they
could help me to regain my freedom.
”By the special grace of God, within three
months, I was let loose from the grip of the
wicked of this world and I thank God for it.
What I however want Nigerians to know is
that there is great level of injustice in our
judiciary and because of that, many
innocent people have died for crimes they
never committed.
”Some of our lawyers are not helping
matters. All they are interested in is money.
Some cases they know they don’t have the
capacity to handle they will just force
themselves into them and their clients will
be condemned and killed.
”Before my very eyes, I witnessed
executions that took the lives of over 48
young and energetic men and women . It is
a painful thing to experience.
”I was released in 2012. After I was arrested
in 1989, I stayed as awaiting trial inmate for
seven years, and stayed on death row for 16
years.
”My case did not go up to the Supreme
Court. It was tried by the military tribunal so
I didn’t even have the opportunity to go on
appeal.
”My experience in the prison was very
traumatic. That place is hell on earth! Some
of the prison warders are very wicked- even
though there are some good ones too. The
bad ones are tormentors. They torment
inmates at will.
”The food inside there is nothing to write
home about. Roofs of some of the cells leak
badly when it rains.
Getting good medication is rather a luxury
too big to imagine, except in critical cases or
upon an order of the court.
In the prison, every inmate is left to his own
fate. Inmates are suffering badly even the
awaiting trial inmates too.
”It hurts me when I see them on TV claiming
that they are reforming the prisons. I am
telling you today that they are doing
nothing. Anyone that is so convinced that
our prisons are better now should volunteer
and spend a weekend inside any of our
prisons. The hardship inside there is better
imagined than experienced.
I saw hell! If the government gets up now and say
they are reforming prisons, they are doing
nothing! I am saying this because I
experienced it for 16 years on the death
row”.
SOURCE:http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/failing-bribe-policeman-n200-sentenced-death/