I went for holiday during the festive period and i decided to visit my friends in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. We later went to see a friend who has been in incarceration. During the course of our interaction his fellow inmate came to us to ask for money and i had a chat with him. I was moved with tears and compassion when he narrated his ordeal.

He said before he left Nigeria a prophet told him that he should beware of women but he didn't adhere to it. According to him he was sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. What happened was that barely three months he came into the country, on that fateful day he said he was feeling horning and he needed to satisfy his sexual urge that has lingered for a while. As he was walking along the bridge in Adjamen area of the city where prostitute mostly underage do their hustling. He saw a girl coming towards him, out of the blue, he called the girl to come and she came. Since he doesn't understand French he made the sign of sex to the lady and he asked her ¨combien¨ which means how much. The lady told him 1000 franc and he said no, he told the lady what he has is 500 franc by pointing his five fingers to her and she agreed. After having a quick sex with her, he dipped his finger into his pocket and brought out the last 1000 franc note he was having and handed it to the lady and he requested for his change but the lady refused to give him his change. She took advantage of his inability to speak the language.

He held the lady by her waist and they were dragging each other. All of a sudden the Ivorian police patrol team where passing and the lady reached out to them and they came. When they asked what the matter was the lady told them that this étranger meaning foreigner has just raped her. Before my brother could know what was happening he was bundled into their van. The following day the lady came to the police station to officially lay rape charges against an innocent young man.

Two days later he saw himself before the judge at the tribunal that was how he was dumped in the jail.


The painful part is that he had already spent more than 7 years in jail without proper trial or even know the number of years he is to serve. He had become a bag of bone and his family back home does not know his where about. Jail term for rape offenses in francophone countries is bizarre because they respect women more than men.

This is a clarion call to all our embassies and diplomatic missions abroad. Many Nigerians are languishing in jail for crime they did not commit.

This is not a spiced up story as many would think.We were not allowed to go in with our phones if not i would have taken some photos. And please i don't want insulting comments but rather comments that will help our government, embassies and diplomatic missions abroad know the right thing to do in other to protect her citizens. Nigerians are the most maligned, we are hated for no cause. At the borders we pay double what others are paying for visas and stamp. And if you ask why they will tell you Nigeria is rich, we have oil. When has our oil become a curse

You left ur own country to go hustle but end up chasing olosho about....if you were so Hot you could have masturbated or take her to his room or something....she cant claim you raped her in ur room when you aint dating and Also you were clearly warned ,he should have easily forgo the 1000 to avoid trouble....


why didnt he request a lawyer on contacted the Embassy?

You left ur own country to go hustle but end up chasing olosho about....if you were so Hot you could have masturbated or take her to his room or something....she cant claim you raped her in ur room when you aint dating and Also you were clearly warned ,he should have easily forgo the 1000 to avoid trouble....


why didnt he request a lawyer or contacted the Embassy?

our embassy staff are there collecting salary without doing the work they are assigned to do

This is not a blame game abeg like the OP clearly stated..it could happen to anyone..Nobody holy pass abeg..No saint claiming or castigation..i can see some people forming holier than thou..

So many Nigerians in diaspora are in jail for offences aa normal citizen would commit and go away with..our government should make more effort prioritising/ placing more value on its citizens whether home or abroad..even under our nose so many people have been jailed for offences they never commited!

C'est dommage..