Victim of a Miscarriage of Justice
Patrick Okoroafor has spent more than half his life in detention.
He was 14 years old when he was arrested in May 1995 and arraigned for robbery and kidnapping, a crime he vows he never committed. The police later charged him and six others with robbery.
On May 30, 1997, at the age of 16, Patrick Okoroafor was sentenced to death along with his six co-defendants. He was tortured in police custody. According to his brother, he was hanged and beaten, and the police used pliers to pull out his teeth. His brother said, "Patrick only went to the police station because the police wanted to inspect a car our mother had bought from one of the other suspects. That is when they arrested him."
In May 2000 the High Court of Imo State allowed Patrick to file a petition to have the charges removed and also to grant his release. The High Court ruled in Patrick's favor but he remained detained.
After not receiving his freedom, Patrick wrote a letter to the Governor of Imo State detailing his conditions, his unfair treatment and pleading for his freedom in November 2001. Unfortunately his plea was rejected in March 2002. On May 29, 2009 the Governor of Imo State heard an appeal by Patrick and his family and reduced Patrick's sentence to 10 years in prison. However, the Attorney General stated that his sentence was to commence on May 29, 2009, disregarding the 14 years Patrick has already spent in detention. Patrick remains in Aba prison located in Abia State.
Patrick Obinna Okoroafor in prison
Patrick was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. His right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time and before an independent and impartial tribunal was violated. Additionally, according to international standards, Patrick Okoroafor should not have been sentenced to death because he was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime for which he was convicted.
His current sentence amounts to indefinite detention and violates international human rights standards. Amnesty International considers his continued imprisonment to be the product of injustice and a form of arbitrary detention.
Patrick Okoroafor's long stay in prison has had serious health consequences and he suffers from severe asthma. The prison, says Patrick Okoroafor, is "poorly ventilated and compacted. We are 64 people in the cell. It is really overcrowded… We have no modern toilet system, no provision for bathrooms, in the cells absence of enough beddings and mosquito nets."
Amnesty International is concerned about the health of Patrick Okoroafor, and calls on the Nigerian government to release him immediately and unconditionally.
