"I was wrapping the groundnuts I had just finished frying for sale when the call came in. It was a strange number and when I picked, it was to hear that my husband has been arrested. I asked to know what happened but the man only told me the name of the police station and dropped the call.
In my confused state, I tried to figure out what he must have done. The only plausible reason was that he hit someone but even that was doubtful. He is old, his car is old and rickety too, as such, he can't drive at a speed that would knock someone down. I called my younger daughter and together we rushed down to the police station. We introduced ourselves and we were directed to the Investigative Police Officer(IPO). He told me they found a dead body with my husband. If not that I had a strong will, I would have fainted immediately.
My husband was brought out and I asked him what happened. He told me he had just dropped off some passengers and was going back to the park when some young men blocked him and ordered him to stop. They were holding matchets and sticks. Two of them were carrying a young man who was bleeding. My husband was so scared and he couldn't do anything as they opened the back door, three of them got in including the wounded one. Another one got into the front seat and ordered my husband to drive.
He said he just drove not even knowing where he was going. They had not gone very far when they sighted a police checkpoint ahead. Again, they ordered him to stop and before he knew what was happening, three of them jumped out of the car and ran leaving the wounded one behind. The policemen noticed what was happening and came forward. At that point, my husband was too shocked to give any explanation. One of the police men got in with him and ordered him to drive to the nearest hospital. The others followed in their van. Unfortunately, before they could get to the hospital, the young man died. That was how my husband was arrested for what he knew nothing about.
By the time he finished his story, I was already crying.
We had never been in that kind of situation before. We had not even been in a police station before so I had no idea what to do. I had no money, and no family to call. Later that night, the DPO said the case was beyond them and they would be transferring my husband to the State Criminal Investigation Department. He said that whatever we had to discuss would be done there. That was how my daily trips to the SCID started. I informed my pastor who helped us get a lawyer. At first, I thought my husband wouldn't stay beyond a day. His narration of what happened was the truth, other collaborators who saw what happened spoke too.
Looking at how frail and old he's looking, you would wonder how he could murder a young man in cold blood. They even located the family of the deceased but they said they didn't want to have anything to do with the case and wouldn't even take the body for burial. Looking at me, old and weak and having to come there everyday, you would think they would have pity. Seeing all these, the police knew my husband was innocent, yet they wouldn't let him go.
After about a week of his being there, they started demanding for money. First, it was the mortuary bills. I didn't have the money and kept pleading with them. When it was obvious they wouldn't budge, my pastor had to give us the money. After that, they asked for money for bail. Again, the amount was beyond me. By this time, we could hardly feed as all I had was spent on daily transportation to the police station and getting him food plus other minor charges they required. The lawyer too was already frustrated with the case and asked us to raise whatever we could. I borrowed some and took all our savings yet the money wasn't complete. The lawyer just had to take that and somehow they accepted it.
We got a surety, paid the money and they asked us to wait for their boss to sign the release documents. I had to go home when it was getting late. They didn't release my husband that night. They kept him for another full day and finally released him the following night. When he came home and I saw him fully, I cried. He was so emaciated with signs of mosquito bites all over his body. I would have asked him to tell you his experiences at the different cells they kept him but he was still too traumatized by the experience. He spent two weeks and two days in detention.
It's been three weeks since he came back and though he is much better healthwise, he hasn't been able to drive that car. I know he is scared of the memories and what the roads might bring. But that's all we have in addition to the little petty businesses I do when I have funds. We will need to feed and pay off the loan we took so he has no option than to go out soon. It was a very trying month but I have a strong faith in God and I'm happy He didn't fail me. Who knows, those boys would have killed or injured my husband, or he would have died in the cell. I would have been telling a different story now.
In all things, we are thankful for life and know we will come out better."
