True Life Story: How I was dehumanized for 20 years on death row – 53 years old businessman.

True Life Story

In 1995, Mumuni Adisa left his family in Lagos Island for a party in Ibadan, Oyo State in the company of two of his friends. It was a weekend, so he planned to return before Monday to attend to his thriving business.

By a twist of fate, Adisa never attended the party for which he travelled, instead, he ended up at a Police station where he was accused of armed robbery with his friends.

Although he insists the charges were strange to him as he had never been involved in a crime, he was convicted and sentenced to death. In this edition, Adisa who was recently granted amnesty shares with Encounter, his 20 years of terrible ordeal waiting endlessly for the hangman’s rope and how he is struggling to rebuild his life.

How it started.

My name is Mumuni Adisa. I am 53 years old and a businessman. In 1995, two of my friends, Wahab Alao and Fatai Busari invited me to join them to attend a party in Ibadan, Oyo State. When we got to an area called Ile-Epo, we went into a pharmaceutical shop to buy drugs for Alao who had pile. As we made our way out of the shop, some people started shouting that we were thieves. Before we knew what was happening, a team of policemen rounded us up and dragged us into their van.

The scene was a big surprise for me because I am not a thief and have never been involved in any criminal activity. We were taken to the police station and on the second day, my family came to visit me. My family was shocked when the police said I was part of an armed robbery gang because they know I have never been involved in a crime. The police later said my friends and I were part of the gang that killed a former Commissioner of Police a year earlier in Ibadan. I initially refused to sign the statement they prepared for me indicting me of armed robbery but after many threats to kill me and my friends, I signed the statement.

Arraignment.

A few weeks after our arrest, we were arraigned before an Ibadan High Court for armed robbery. We were remanded at Agodi prison. My family got a lawyer to apply for bail for me on three occasions and on each occasion, the court turned it down because the allegations against me by the prosecutor could attract capital punishment.. Shockingly, the robbery incident that the police alleged that I took part in happened in 1994 while I was arrested in 1995.

Before my arrest, I had not travelled to Ibadan the previous year so I was surprised when the police alleged that I was among the gang that killed one CP Kolawole. Again, no weapon was found on me when I was arrested so I don’t know where the police got the gun they said they found on me. It was after we got to the police station that someone told us that a robbery had happened at the spot where we were arrested a few months back and that the police were on the lookout for the perpetrators of the crime.

Trial

During the trial, the police relied heavily on the confessional statement that I was forced to sign. Despite the effort made by my lawyer, the trial judge upheld the charges and convicted me of armed robbery in 2002. I appealed against my conviction but the Court of Appeal also upheld the decision of the lower court. The Supreme Court also did the same thing.

How my father-in-law died helping me

During my incarceration, my father-in-law was always coming to visit me in prison. On every visit, he would always bring food and money for my welfare. He maintained that routine until the day he was murdered by some criminals just after the 3rd Mainland Bridge, in Lagos. He left home very early and boarded a bus to Ibadan at the CMS bus stop not knowing that criminals were inside the bus. They thought the food he was bringing for me which he wrapped with nylon was a bundle of money so they forcefully took it from him and strangled him before throwing him out of the moving bus.

Sympathizers gathered around his lifeless body and even one of his daughters who was passing by also saw the crowd but did not know that it was her father that was lying dead. It was much later when they started looking for him that it was discovered that he was the person that was killed in the morning. I was very sad over the incident and was not myself for weeks. He believed in my innocence and was always bringing me food and giving me words of encouragement.

Death row ordeal

The death row was hell and I will never wish my worst enemy a day inside the death row cell. I ate, drank, defecate and did everything within the cell. The heat inside the cell cannot be compared with anything. We were treated like dead people by the prison warders. The scariest part of my experience was whenever prison officials came to pick any of us for execution. When I newly got into the cell, the execution of condemned inmates was a regular occurrence. We usually don’t know who will be executed next amongst us so whenever we heard the prison officials marching towards our cell, we began to panic.

Some would begin to stool while others would begin to say their last prayer. Execution was a frequent thing, so I was living one day at a time believing that I might be the next person. We may just finish a meal in the morning and the next thing you will see prison warders coming to take any of us for hanging. One thing that gave me little hope was when I remembered my vow before my wife on the day my judgment was pronounced that I was innocent. I told her that I would return home one day because I am innocent.

Met real culprits in prison

I met one of the persons who killed the Police officer whom we were convicted of inside the prison. During one of our open-out sessions, we were just talking with one another before taking a bath when one inmate who was convicted of armed robbery called me out and confessed that he was a member of the gang that killed the Police Commissioner during a robbery in 1994.
The Police Commissioner was the same officer police charged my friends and me for killing. I was shocked by his revelation but there was nothing I could do. After the confession, the inmate started distancing himself from me and I sensed that he thought I would report his disclosure to the authorities.

When I told my other co-convicts, they were also shocked but there was nothing we could do because by then, the Supreme Court had confirmed our conviction. I learned the inmate and his gang were convicted for another murder. Surprisingly, they were granted amnesty after also serving years on death row.

Bad influence in prison

Prison is full of bad influences and it takes the grace of God for someone to spend years there without being influenced. Inside the prison, you will meet real heartless killers, kidnappers, fraudsters, cultists, and petty thieves. So when you get in there, you mix with everyone. Sometimes they form gangs inside the prison so if an innocent man who was unjustly incarcerated finds himself in such an environment, it will take the grace of God for him to still be himself. It was a big struggle for me but I remained myself throughout my stay before I was granted amnesty.

Wife’s struggles

I appreciate my wife for remaining faithful to our marriage and taking care of our children while I was in prison. I know it must have been a difficult period for her because she was always sharing with me the struggles she was passing through. She did all manners of jobs to take care of our children after my business crumbled. The money realized from the sale of my property was used to pay lawyers handling my case. So she had practically nothing to take care of the children. She is a good woman and I am grateful for all her support. It is only God that will reward her.

Delayed release

The two of my friends with whom we were convicted were released earlier this year after our death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. I thought that naturally, they would release me just like my friends but surprisingly, nothing was done about my release. My family had to engage a lawyer who took over my case and wrote the Amnesty Committee. It was after that letter that I was released.

Lessons

7 years awaiting trial and 20 years on death row has taught me big lessons. First, I will never follow anyone on an occasion that I don’t know what it is about. It was because I followed my friends to a party that I wasted 27 years of my life. I run away from the company of young girls because I witnessed cases of innocent people being framed for rape. I also avoid fights and needless arguments. Many people ended up in prison because of needless fights that led to manslaughter or murder and they are regretting their actions in prison. You only know the beginning of a fight but not the ending.

Jobless, appeal for support

Since I was released from prison last month, things have been extremely difficult for me. My first challenge was getting used to my environment again. A lot of things have changed in the last 27 years and I am trying to acclimatize. I have also been depending on my friends and family for feeding and it has not been easy for me.

What I need now is a little support from anybody to start my life afresh. I will appreciate any help or job offer from anyone.

Oke Ite: What You Need To Know

The rise of “Oke Ite” rituals among the Igbo youths is on alarming side. The quest for quick wealth, lack of employment opportunities, hard times, and moral decadence has led many into suicidal acts such as indulging in oke ite.

“Oke Ite” is a money ritual usually done mostly in Igbo land. This is what is killing most young men in Igbo land today. Some call it “yahoo plus“, “Oruru” or “Awele“.
The least an experienced native doctor can charge anyone to prepare this charm is N1.5 million naira. Some native doctors charge as high as N3 million. Some don’t charge; what they do is to collect percentage of whatever you realize from time to time. Most traders also do this charm.

Oke Ite is money ritual (ogwu ego). The native doctor usually prepares it with bat, other dangerous species of birds, bitter herbs, roots and barks of spiritual trees like the ogilisi. The main ingredients are dog’s spare parts and human spare parts. They work directly with mortuary attendants. They need mostly parts of those who died through road accident and others who died at an unripe age. They also go for the parts of women who had no children. Any native doctor who knows how to prepare this must be an occultic native doctor, which without being one, the vibration will sweep the native doctor off within a short time. The kickback is usually harsh on the native doctors.

A man preparing Oke Ite

In this category of charm is the powerful “Ibobo isi atu“. Ibobo is hung on the wall. Celebrities do it. Contractors, security heads and lawyers who want to be feared do it. They do it to command respect and be feared and get attracted to important people’s admiration. It’s a very dangerous charm. It’s almost more dangerous and costly than Okeite. Anybody who has Ibobo is feared for no reason. People listen where they talk. As a Contractor, your own bidding is first considered. It carries force of attraction. The glory of a person who has it holds people down.

Another charm in this category is “udu ako mmili” (a calabash that never lacks water). It’s more like okeite. It takes the same process to prepare.

Another one is “Oke awele”. Traders, transporters and farmers do this mostly. Another one is what is called “aro agba aka” (year will never go by without making a person wealthy). It’s a new discovery under this category and seems to be the deadliest.

These are some of the things you tap as grace in the lives of some people you think are rich. Funny enough is that no stupendously rich person does any of these. What they afford those doing them are Benz, houses and money to spend on women and spray at events. That’s all. Nobody who does any of these things is ever counted among wealthy men and women in the society.

The side effects are bigger than what they offer. You continue losing family members from time to time. They seize some people’s ability to give birth. Some may give birth, but the baby will die on delivery. Sometimes, the mother follows it. They destroy children. Some don’t live more than five years. But the money will be coming. On dying, the properties collapse as they came. Apart from the lethal effects, you will not have peace of mind while alive. You will not assist anyone with the money. The often you bring things into the pot, the more the money flows. It booms more when the handkerchief used in cleaning a woman’s private part after sex is put in the pot. That’s when you see some young girls go mad or find it hard to give birth. The pot boils like never before. Some bring charred human parts, especially those babies and young girls whose blood is still fresh.

The truth is that the native doctor doesn’t know the people the charms will take as sacrifice. The charms pick randomly. Sometimes, a family member or close friends can die without you knowing they died at your instance. The charms select and don’t tell the clients when and who they will be collecting. This is why a rich person in a family suspected to be behind another’s death can come out boldly and swear with their life and nothing harms them. And once the pot stops frothing, the time for the person to go has come. That’s when you find some young boys die of road accident or go mad or die in mysterious ways. So, when you are tapping from a person’s grace just because he bought a new vehicle or built a new house, know it that you might be tapping from a strange force. No yahoo boy who has voluminous money nowadays gets it outside this means. Ordinary Yahoo stopped paying some five years ago. It’s good that you know all these so that no one pushes you into regrettable living. So that you don’t envy people you are better than. So that you don’t think you are not working hard. Learn. Research. Ask questions. Don’t jealous. Don’t envy. Don’t be disturbed by the doings of some people who don’t have known sources of income.

Pots of Oke Ite

The side effects of Okeite is very brutal and lethal, be careful.