The Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, has ordered the immediate release of Mr. Sewedo Folorunsho, who was detained for eight years without trial at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre over an alleged murder.
In a judgment delivered on October 22, 2025, and obtained yesterday, Justice Adenike Shonubi declared Folorunsho’s detention unlawful, describing it as a gross violation of his fundamental rights to personal liberty, human dignity, and fair hearing as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.
The court consequently ordered Folorunsho’s unconditional release and awarded N500,000 in damages against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.
Folorunsho, through his counsel, Monday Ubani (SAN), had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, and the Deputy Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Lagos.
Court documents showed that the applicant was arrested by the police in 2012 over an allegation of murder.
He was later arraigned in 2017 before an Ebute Metta Magistrate’s Court on a holding charge, but no information was ever filed before the High Court to commence his trial.
As a result, he remained in custody at Kirikiri Correctional Centre from 2017 until the court’s recent judgment.
Justice Shonubi held that the prolonged detention without trial violated the applicant’s constitutional rights and amounted to an unlawful deprivation of liberty.
“The state cannot deprive a citizen of his freedom indefinitely without trial,” the judge ruled.
Reacting to the judgment, Ubani, represented in court by Mr. Iwowo Anthony, praised the court for standing firm in defence of justice and the rule of law.
He said the decision reaffirmed the judiciary’s role as the last hope of the common man.
The court’s order has since been transmitted to the correctional authorities for immediate compliance.
