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Amnesty
International has requested that Goodluck Jonathan authorize the
release of 30-year-old Patrick Okoroafor, who has been in jail in Imo
State for the past 16 years.

The international
human rights organisation said in an email made available to NEXT that
Mr Okoroafor was just 14 years old when he was arrested in May 1995.

“Two years later,
he was sentenced to death for robbery, along with six others. He did
not have the right to appeal and was reported to have been tortured
while in police detention. In 2001, his sentence of death was
pronounced ‘illegal, null and void,’ and instead changed to detention
‘during the pleasure of the governor.’ In 2008, the Imo State
Prerogative of Mercy Committee recommended that his sentence be changed
to life imprisonment,” the group said.

The road to jail

Patrick Okoroafor
and one Chidiebere Onuoha who was 15 at the time of arrest, petitioned
the then Military Administrator of Imo State, Tanko Zubairu, for
clemency on grounds of age. Mr Zubairu confirmed the death sentences of
Mr Onuoha, and five others, and commuted Mr Okoroafor’s sentence to
life imprisonment. On July 31, 1997, the six men were publicly shot to
death. In May 2009, Mr Okoroafor’s life sentence was commuted to 10
years by the then Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa. However, the
new sentence commenced on 29 May 2009 and did not take into account the
14 years he had already spent in prison.

“Prison has had serious consequences for Patrick’s health,” stated Amnesty International.

“He suffers from
asthma attacks described by prison authorities as ‘frequent and
life-threatening.’ A prison doctor has recommended that Patrick be
released because of his health. 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. Owing to these factors, the torture
and ill-treatment he suffered while in detention, and the amount of
time that he has already spent in prison and on death row, Amnesty
International has been campaigning for the immediate release of Patrick
Okoroafor from prison.”

Reluctant to set him free

The Imo State
government has reportedly been reluctant to release Mr Okoroafor
because they believe he was involved in the killing of 11-year-old
Ikechukwu Okonkwo in Otokoto Hotel, an Owerri-based hotel that featured
prominently in the Otokoto riots of 1996 that shattered the relative
peace of the city. However, reports state that Mr Okoroafor and his
co-accused were arrested for alleged robbery in May 1995; while the
murder of Mr Okonkwo and the subsequent riots, took place in September
1996, when the accused were all in detention.

“On 1 October,
Nigeria celebrates 50 years of independence. Amnesty International is
calling on the President of Nigeria to obtain Patrick’s immediate and
unconditional release from prison and allow him to celebrate Nigeria’s
50 years of independence at home with his family,” stated the human
rights organization.