At just in his early twenties, Yahaya moved from Borno State to Lagos in search of better opportunities. He met Segun, who promised him a tricycle on hire purchase. They signed an agreement, but on the day of the tricycle handover, Segun asked Yahaya to first drop off some friends at a nearby bus stop and then pick up another passenger at CMS before heading to Victoria Island. Yahaya agreed, expecting to be paid for his services.
However, upon picking up the additional passenger at CMS, Yahaya was attacked by his passenger and two others, who seized the tricycle and fled. As Yahaya was still reeling from the attack, Segun arrived with police officers and had him arrested. At the police station, both Yahaya and his guarantor were charged with stealing the tricycle and were taken to court the next day. Despite being granted bail, Yahaya couldn’t secure it due to lack of funds and legal representation.
For ten months, Yahaya remained in prison without legal help until he was connected with Headfort Foundation’s Prison Outreach Team at Ikoyi Prison. They discovered he had no family in Lagos and no means to perfect his bail.
In October 2019, through the 'Bail the Indigent' project funded by a generous Nigerian citizen, Yahaya's bail was successfully completed on October 24th, 2019, after he had spent a grueling one year and six months in prison.
