- Safiu Kehinde
One of the human rights lawyers who secured the release of Quadri Alabi has claimed the Community Leader (Baale) put pressure on the family of the boy to cook rice and cow to appease miscreants in the area to avert further harassment.
Quadri Alabi is the 17 year old boy who gained popularity after standing in front of the campaign train of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi.
NPO Reported that the teenager had come under threat by some suspected hoodlums at his Amukoko residence over his refusal to share his proceeds of the campaign with them.
The hoodlums allegedly framed him up at the Amukoko Police Station, claiming he was involved in the recent the recent violent attacks and robbery in the community.
The Police would arrest and arraign him to court where he was remanded in Kirikiri maximum prison.
His plight caught the attention of netizens and intervention of Human Rights lawyers, including Inibehe Effiong, after spending three months in prison.
Following his discharge and acquittal by the Apapa Magistrate court on Thursday, Inibehe diclosed, in a post on his X handle, how the Baale of Amukoko had demanded for cow and rice to be cooked by Quadri’s family to appease the hoodlums and avert further threat.
“Our client, Quadri was abducted by two ‘Area Boys’ who are notoriously known in the community as Lege and Baba Waris close to his family residence at Amukoko, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area and dumped at the Amukoko Divisional Police Headquarters (Pako Police Station) in Lagos State.
“Quadri was returning from work when he was grabbed by the duo, who along with other jealous and entitled Area Boys in the community, have been harassing him and threatening to deal with him since 2023 for not giving them ‘their share’ of donations gifted him during the last elections period.
“Quadri’s family informed us that the Baale of the community equally pressured them to buy a cow and rice and cook for the community to appease the Area Boys.
“The abductors initially told the officers at Amukoko Police Station that our client was involved in street fighting.
“To the consternation of Quadri and his family, the police on 26th January, 2025 took Quadri before a Magistrate in Apapa, and obtained an order remanding him at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kirikiri on a trumped-up charge of armed robbery.
“The police fraudulently joined Quadri with four strange adults who had no form of connection or relationship whatsoever with him and claimed that the four strange men were his case mates.” Inibehe disclosed.