A Rivers State High Court has ordered the release of Mr. John Gift Tobia, who spent eight years and four months in detention at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre without trial.
Tobia was arrested by the Nigeria Police in 2017 at Rumuokoro Junction, Port Harcourt, and was initially arraigned before a magistrate court, which ordered his remand. However, no formal charges or trial followed for over eight years.
His release was facilitated by human rights lawyer Hope Azinuchi Azeru-Oziri, who took up the case pro bono earlier this year. Azeru-Oziri, known on social media as “Law in Pidgin,” said she was spiritually moved to take up the case after visiting the prison on January 6, 2025.
The legal effort was supported by financial contributions from Azeru-Oziri’s social media followers and a Nigerian philanthropist based in the United Kingdom.
In its ruling, the court condemned the prolonged detention as illegal and a violation of Tobia’s fundamental rights, ordering his immediate release.
