A 78-year-old man from Borno State is marking his birthday this week with freedom, a small business, and a story that has left Nigerians stunned: he spent 47 years in prison after being arrested at age 13 for accidentally damaging a car headlight.
The man, who asked to be identified only as Baba, said his ordeal began in Maiduguri in the early 1960s. At the time, he was a primary school pupil hawking sugarcane for his father, a sugarcane farmer.
“I Stood There Waiting for the Owner”
Recounting the incident, Baba said the heat that day in Maiduguri was unbearable. While pushing a wheelbarrow of sugarcane, he sought shade under a tree and accidentally knocked the headlight off a parked car.
“I was terrified. I wanted to run, but my conscience wouldn’t let me. So I stood there for 30 minutes, waiting for the owner,” he said.
The owner turned out to be a police officer. According to Baba, the officer beat him, threatened bystanders with a pistol, and drove him straight to a police station. Baba spent that night in a cell with no food, only bread the next morning.
Weeks turned to months. A month later, he and others were taken to court, but the court did not sit. He was remanded. One year passed. Then two. By age 15, he had been transferred out of Maiduguri Prison to Bauchi.
47 Years Across Nigerian Prisons
Over the decades, Baba said he was moved from one prison to another — Bauchi, prisons in the East and West, Ibadan, and finally Kano State Prison. He worked in the laundry section and became known as “Baba in the prison.”
“No one believed my story,” he said. “Behind those walls, people assume everyone is a criminal. I lost contact with my family. I became like an alien who came into the world alone.”
Freedom at 60
His release came during a prison visit by a state governor toward the end of the governor’s 8-year tenure.
“Baba, come here. How old are you, and what brought you here?” the governor asked.
“I am 60 years old. I came here when I was 13,” Baba replied.
Witnesses say prisoners and officials wept. An investigation was launched and traced the arresting officer, who by then had become a traditional ruler.
The governor took Baba to the monarch’s palace, still in his prison uniform. The monarch, visibly remorseful, offered to build Baba a house and marry him off.
“I don’t need a house or a wife,” Baba told him. “My life is prison, and prison is my life. At this age, what life will fit me? In this life and the next, I will never forgive you.”
Life After Prison
Baba was granted amnesty. The governor provided support and opened a provision shop for him.
Today, at 78, Baba says he is alive and rebuilding. “I’m 78 years old today. I am alive. Happy birthday to me,” he said.
Human rights advocates who heard the story have called for a review of remand procedures and for compensation mechanisms for victims of wrongful detention.
This story is based on Baba’s personal account.
