CITIZENS COMPASS– Alabi Quadri, the 17-year-old boy who stood infront of the convoy of Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), during the 2023 elections has narrated how he was arrested by the Police.
The boy became popular when he single handedly stopped the convoy during a campaign.
Quadri narrated his experience while he was detained at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison.
Speaking in an interview on Channels TV, Alabi Quadri shared the shocking details of his arrest and the grueling conditions he faced while incarcerated in Kirikiri Prison.
According to him, his troubles began after the viral photo with Obi’s motorcade. He explained that following the photo, some individuals seemed to have been keeping a close eye on him. He recalled receiving threats, including one where someone warned that the money given to him would be taken, and that he would be kidnapped. The threats were so intense that they even mentioned his mother wouldn’t see him again. This heightened fear made him uneasy about the sudden events that would follow.
Alabi stated that he had no knowledge of any conflict in his area on the day he was arrested. Returning home from his job as a motor boy, he was ambushed by local boys from his community. These boys handed him over to the police, marking the beginning of his nightmare. “Since the viral campaign picture surfaced, it seems like some people have been keeping a close watch on me,” he said.
At the police station, Alabi found himself locked up in a cell with strangers—older men he had never met before. He was the youngest in the group, and the fear of being alone with such people weighed heavily on him. “They locked me up in a cell with people I didn’t know. They were older men I had never met before, and I was the youngest among them,” he recalled.
Alabi Quadri’s ordeal worsened when he was transferred to the notorious Kirikiri prison. There, he was given the grim task of cleaning up faeces every day from morning until six in the evening. Alabi mentioned that he was unable to pay the marshall, which led to him being assigned the repulsive job. “In Kirikiri, my daily task was to clean up faeces from morning until six in the evening because I couldn’t afford to pay the marshall,” he said.
The Lagos State Police Command claimed that Alabi’s arrest was due to alleged public disturbance and robbery. However, his family and supporters have vehemently denied these accusations, maintaining that his arrest was unwarranted and unjust. They have accused the police of using him as a scapegoat. After spending several months in detention, Alabi was finally released on April 17, 2025.
G-W-G
