Teen in viral photo with Obi alleges abuse, forced labour in Kirikiri prison

Alabi Quadri, the teenager who went viral in the buildup to the 2023 election, has shared his experience while in detention at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison. 

Quadri, who appeared in a viral photograph with Obi’s motorcade during a campaign stop in Lagos, said that moment may have marked the beginning of his troubles.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, the teenager recounted how he was picked up near his home after returning from his job as a motor boy.

Unknown to him, a conflict had broken out in the area, and police had already begun arresting suspects.

“Since the viral campaign picture surfaced, it seems like some people have been keeping a close watch on me,” he said.

“Someone even threatened my mum, saying that the money they have given me would be split in two, or else she wouldn’t see me again. They warned that they would kidnap me and take me somewhere she couldn’t even use the money.

“On the day I returned from work as a motor boy, I had no idea that a fight had broken out in the area and that the police had already surrounded it. As I approached our house, some area boys grabbed me and handed me over to another, instructing them to take me to their station.”

At the police station, Quadri said he was placed in a cell with older men he had never met before, marking the beginning of his ordeal.

He added that he was transferred to Kirikiri prison where his situation worsened as he was unable to pay the marshall.

Quadri said he was assigned the duty of cleaning up faeces from morning until six in the evening every day.

“At the station, 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 said.

“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.”

The Lagos state police command, however, said Quadri was arrested and remanded for alleged public disturbance and robbery.

The teenager was released on April 17 after spending several months in jail.