Many people around me shy away from anything that would require them to appear in court because, when we hear the word "court", we typically associate it with either justice, criminal activity, prison, or something similar. Nevertheless, despite the negative connotations attached to courts, they are an essential tool for establishing order and the rule of law, thus today I'll be sharing my experience with you all regarding a court case.
As a boy, I can remember watching many Nigerian movies that portray how court activities and judgments are, and these made me dislike or never want to have anything to do with a court case. But the characters in the American television series "Suit", which is entirely based on lawyers and various court activities, completely changed my perspective on the court, and I even wished I studied law after watching it.
Despite the fact that I've never been sued in court and I've never forced anyone to appear, I can recall a dreadful incident that happened to my uncle a few years ago and resulted in his detention by the police and, ultimately, a charge of conspiring to commit armed robbery alongside other defendants. Join me as I outline what occurred and how the judgment was administered.
About eight years ago, at the same time of year when our extended family generally gathers to enjoy the holiday season at our grandparents' house, police burst into our home and demanded to see and arrest my uncle, who was tracked to our home using the new Blackberry phone he had just bought. All attempts to calm them down failed because they insisted we come to the station to make whatever statements we might have about what happened.
We weren't told what he did when they detained him, but when we got to the police station, we found out that the phone he had just brought had been stolen during an armed robbery at a house, during which someone had been slain. Since we are aware of how difficult this situation is, so my dad being the elders among we that went to the station begged the police to allow to speak with my uncle.
They learn from their conversation and the police interrogation that he only bought the phone from the well-known Alaba market in Lagos. Armed with this information, the police took my uncle and used him as a pawn in the their visit to the market in order to apprehend the seller and his associates. The genuine thieves confessed to their crimes by the time they had tortured and apprehended everyone and had returned to the station from the market, and they even directed the police to the home of their fellow gang members to be apprehended.
The fact that every single one of the robbers insisted that my uncle was one of them and actually participated in the crime signaled trouble, I suppose they all decided to punish him because he was the reason they were all caught, However, while we were still pleading and looking for evidence that he wasn't one of them, The victim of the robbery sued all the thieves to court, including my uncle.
Nothing appears to be left to hope for. My uncle is being treated like the robbers, but fortunately for him, the company where he worked sent some representatives to look into the case. During their findings, they discovered that my uncle wasn't even in Lagos the day the robbery took place because he was sent on an assignment to the far east of the country, to prove that our lawyer and the coworkers who traveled with him to the other state rushed to the bus terminal where they boarded the bus.
They were able to speak with the workers at the bus terminal and ask for the list of passengers who boarded their bus on that specific day to the east; we knew it was a possibility when we saw his name listed with other travellers. The photograph taken by my uncle's friend while they were working at the state they traveled to the same day of the incident was another piece of evidence that was acquired.
When we had that evidence, we hurried back to the police station to present it. We were told that it was too late because the case had moved past their jurisdiction, but we were advised that we could present the evidence in court with the help of an experienced attorney to defend my uncle. On the day the judge would be passing, we were all tense and worried about what would happen if the evidence weren't accepted by the judge.
After the case was read aloud and other formalities were completed on the day of the verdict, my uncle's attorney was finally given permission to represent him. He stood up and gave a speech explaining why my uncle isn't a member of the robbers. He also presented documentation showing his travel papers and list of travellers gotten from the bus terminal on the alleged day of the robbery, along with the photos snapped by my uncles friend while they were working, which had the time and location automatically associated with them.
The final piece of proof came when one of the thieves spoke out to defend my uncle, saying that although he wasn't one of them, the gang had falsely accused him for exposing them, It was finally time for the court to make a decision following this hearing and luckily my uncle was found not guilty, he was advised never to purchase a fairly used phone or items again, while all the robbers received a three-year prison term for being found guilty of theft, but one among them was sent to a life sentence for the murder of the victim.
We triumphantly returned home after the court case, grateful that my uncle didn't get sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit, Our grandfather sat us all down and advice us all at home never to buy anything that isn't brand-new, whether from a friend or a merchant, Christmas that year was less joyous than usual since we were still reeling from what had happened, but we are grateful.
That's pretty much all for my courtroom experience involving my uncle's problems; as you can probably tell, we won, and the lesson I took away from it has stuck with me ever since. The article was inspired by a discussion in the Hive Learners Community; see Kronia's post for all the information and details you need to write on this subject.