17-year-old boy who blocked Peter Obi’s convoy shares ordeal in Kirikiri Prison

Quadri Alabi, the 17-year-old who rose to national attention during the 2023 general election for courageously standing in front of Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi’s convoy, has spoken out about a deeply traumatic experience following his moment in the spotlight.

Speaking on The Morning Brief, a Channels Television programme, on Monday, Alabi recounted how life took a dark turn after the viral photo of him went public.

“Since that campaign picture went viral, it’s like some people have been watching me,” he said, describing a chilling series of events that began with threats to his family and culminated in an unjust arrest and detention.

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Alabi claimed that his mother received threats over financial assistance allegedly given to him. “Someone told her that if we didn’t split the money, she would never see me again. They even threatened to kidnap me,” he said.

The teenager, who works as a motor boy, explained that on the day he was arrested, he had just returned from work, unaware that a fight had erupted in his neighborhood. He said that area boys seized him and handed him over to the police, falsely implicating him in the unrest.

“I was just at the entrance of my house when the police came and picked me up,” he recalled. “At the station, I was the youngest person there. I was locked up with much older men. I hadn’t done anything.”

The situation worsened when he was transferred to the Kirikiri Correctional Centre. Alabi described being forced to perform dehumanizing tasks as punishment for his inability to pay bribes to prison authorities.

“Every day, I was made to clean faeces from morning till 6pm,” he said. “They said I had to pay the marshall, but I couldn’t afford it.”

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