The Magistrate Court in Apapa has discharged 17-year-old Alabi Quadri, who went viral during the 2023 election season for standing in front of the convoy of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Quadri had been wrongfully detained for months on a trumped-up charge of armed robbery. He was freed on Wednesday, April 16, after the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) found no evidence to support the allegations against him.
According to his lawyer, human rights advocate Inibehe Effiong, Quadri was abducted in January by two local area boys, Lege and Baba Waris, who had previously harassed him over donations he received during the campaign period. Despite initially being accused of involvement in a street fight, the police escalated the charges to armed robbery and listed his age as 18 to bypass juvenile court protections.
The teenager had been held at the Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre since January 26, 2025.
Effiong’s legal team took up the case after it was flagged by Hassana Nurudeen, co-founder of Ray of Hope Prison Outreach. Following legal intervention and the DPP’s recommendation against prosecution, Magistrate A.O. Olorunfemi formally discharged Quadri, closing a troubling chapter for the minor.
