Nine ENDSARS protesters were released after three years in detention

On January 10, 2023, nine END SARS protesters who had been held at the Correctional Centre Ibadan since 2020 were released.

The “Oyo9,” also known as Adeshina Muyiwa, Ikechuckwu Eze, Ariyo Sodiq, Ikenna Amaechi, Oyewole Olumide, Ariyo Afeez, Taoreed Abiodun, Adekunle Moruf, and Rasheed Tiamiyu, were charged with crimes related to the 2020 demonstration against the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria Force

The change occurs just 24 hours after the chief judge of Oyo State ordered the release of 58 prisoners who had been held for extended periods of time in state prisons.

Justice Munga Abimbola, the chief judge of Oyo State, released certain prisoners on Monday after declaring that lengthy imprisonment violated people’s constitutional rights and reiterated the legal principle that “a person is deemed innocent unless proven guilty.”

The CJ made this statement while on a three-day tour of prisons in the state, which included a stop at the Agodi Custodial Center of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

An activist and the Oyo State leader of the Take It Back Movement, a group that had been requesting the release of the Oyo nine, Solomon Emiola, confirmed the release of the nine people by stating: “We are just returning from the prison, and the nine of them have gone home with their families.”

Following the release of the 58 prisoners, the TIB members had yesterday opposed the Oyo9’s ongoing arrest. They maintained that the Oyo9 ought to have been among the individuals who were let go.

Professor Oyelowo Oyewo, the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice, was unavailable for comment after calls to his known line went unanswered.

The News Agency of Nigeria also confirmed to our correspondent the nine people’s release, stating that they were pardoned and released as part of the State Chief Judge’s initiative to decongest the jails.