How twin brothers spent three years, two months in custody after policemen accused them of cultism

Two men who were twin brothers and who spent a total of three years and two months in custody after police arrested them and accused them of belonging to a secret society and cultism have now regained their freedom.

The two men, named Taiwo and Kehinde, were said to be living in Ikorodu area of Lagos State. While Taiwo was a barber, Kehinde was a vulcanizer before they landed in trouble.

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(Caption): Taiwo and Kehinde after regaining their freedom, as posted by the foundation on Tuesday.

It was gathered that sometimes in March 2020, policemen arrested the twins at an uncompleted building and took them to Imota Police Station where they spent two days before they were transferred to the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ikeja.

They were said to have spent five months in SARS custody where they were allegedly tortured and forced to admit that they belonged to an unlawful society and were in possession of firearms.

They were eventually charged to court in 2021 accused of belonging to an unlawful society and being in possession of firearms. They pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them.

They were granted bail but because they could not meet the bail conditions, they were remanded in prison custody.

Their plight was announced by a foundation that usually visits prisons and courts in Lagos State, the Headfort Foundation (Prison Reform Initiative) on its Facebook wall which added that one of its lawyers took up the matter after seeing them in prison custody.

The case was eventually taken to a high court in the state after a legal advice was issued in April 2022. However, it was found out that the police prosecutor could not produce any witness in court to give evidence, causing the case to suffer several adjournments.

The lawyer therefore applied for the case to be struck out for want of diligent prosecution and on May 17, 2023, the judge granted the prayer, discharged and acquitted Taiwo and Kehinde after spending three years and two months in both police and prison custody.

Below is the screenshot of the statement by the foundation on the matter:

Osfem (
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