The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has ordered the immediate release of one Mr. Sewedo Folorunsho, who has been awaiting trial for alleged murder in Kirikiri prison for eight years without trial.
In a judgment delivered on October 22, 2025, obtained by our correspondent yesterday, Justice Adenike Shonubi declared the detention unlawful and a violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights to personal liberty, dignity of human person, and fair hearing as guaranteed by the Constitution, reports Vanguard.
The court consequently ordered Mr. Sewedo unconditional release from custody and awarded N500,000 in damages against the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.
Sewedo through his counsel, Monday Ubani, SAN, had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, 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 allegation of murder and detained in a Police cell before being arraigned in 2017, before the Ebute Metta Magistrate court on a holding charge. However, no information was filed before the Lagos High Court to commence his trial, leading to his continued detention at the prison facility from 2017 until the judgment date.
Justice Shonubi held that the prolonged detention without trial contravened constitutional provisions and amounted to an unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Reacting to the judgment, the applicant’s counsel, Ubani, SAN, commended the court for upholding the rule of law. He was represented in court by Mr. Iwowo Anthony, who adopted the written address of the application on behalf of the firm.
The court’s order has been transmitted to the prisons authorities for compliance.
