An Ogoni family in Rivers State has taken the Federal Government, the Rivers State Government and the Ministry of Interior to court over the 18-year imprisonment of their son, Gospel Kinanee, who was detained without trial from the age of 14.
Speaking with Arise News, Gospel’s older brother, Paul Kinanee, said Gospel went missing one night in 2007.
The family searched police stations and correctional facilities across the state, including the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Prison, where Gospel was, in fact, being secretly held, but found no record of him.
Paul said the years of uncertainty over his brother’s disappearance took a toll on their parents, both of whom died before Gospel was found.
The case finally broke when a lawyer on a routine prison visit noticed an inmate who resembled Gospel.
The lawyer returned with Paul, who identified his brother, now 32.
Nearly two decades in prison, without trial or legal representation, have left Gospel with serious mental health challenges.
He regained his freedom alongside 20 other inmates during a jail delivery exercise led by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi.
The Kinanee family is now seeking substantial damages and judicial accountability for what they describe as the “destruction of their son’s youth and health.”
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