The happenings around
Quadri Alabi, the 17-year-old who became known during the 2023 presidential election for standing in front of Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi’s convoy, were not just accidental or coincidence.
They were divinely orchestrated.
The whole world is in the mood of Easter celebration. The period itself is to commemorate the vicarious death of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin of mankind.
He never merited the punishment he had to go through to achieve the Almighty plan. He was dragged about the streets of Jerusalem like a common criminal. He was scourged with wicked whips and briers.
As he was being dragged about, members of his family and close associates who knew he was innocent were scared of identifying with him or to go close to the scene. They all watched in awe from a distance.
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The security agents of his days were blood suckers, who went beyond their briefs to rain terror on Christ.
The judicial system was as complicit as any that works in cahoots with Satan himself. They miscarried justice at will. The political leadership that supervised the brutal killing feared neither God nor man. They were simply heartless. That was why, despite the crocodile tears shed by Pontius Pilate after giving the final endorsement, he gave Christ away to be crucified, even against his wife’s profuse advice.
But the joy of it all was that the wickedness of Pilate, the killer soldiers/policemen and the maddening crowd could not prevent the divine purpose of God from manifesting. Despite the cruelty and the shenanigans of authorities to cover up the resurrection of Christ, the third day, the news was all over the place that “He has risen.” That miraculous resurrection from the dead gave rise to the celebration of today.
In Lagos, Nigeria, a similar episode took place in our own very eyes recently. Though not in the form Christ was humiliated and crucified, for no man born of woman can go through such again. But the torture and unjust treatment a young Quadri received in the hands of security authorities in Nigeria have drawn international attention at Easter.
Harmless Quadri is said to have spent close to three months at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre in Lagos. Although underage, he was incarcerated without mercy on trumped-up allegation.
His parents, family, relations and friends could not help as they themselves were afraid for their own lives, just as those close to Christ watched helplessly as Pilate and his men had their way.
Those that were after his life spread fear near the neighbourhood. They allegedly threatened his parents into dead silence.
He was only discharged a few days to Easter by a Magistrate Court in Apapa following legal advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, which found no evidence to support the armed robbery charge brought against him.
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“We are excited to announce that Quadri Yusuf Alabi, the 17-year-old teenager who gained fame during the 2023 elections after he spontaneously jumped and stood in front of the convoy of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has been freed by the court today, 17th April, 2025,” his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, announced in a post on X.
Quadri’s plight was a result of envy of those around him, who thought that he made a kill by openly identifying with Peter Obi in 2023.
Effiong described his arrest and detention as a “diabolical frame-up” allegedly orchestrated by local thugs known in the Amukoko area as Lege and Baba Waris. He was allegedly abducted near his home and handed over to the police, and was accused of being involved in a street fight.
The police incarcerated a minor and help him up in a cell meant for adults. Where is the humanity?
His lawyer explained that the boy had faced threats from the said individuals since 2023 over donations he received from supporters of Obi.
Quadri’s family was also allegedly pressured by local leaders to appease the community by buying a cow and hosting a feast.
The young man’s case shows how simple it is today for people to disappear from their residences without any trace of them any more.
Quadri is a free man today because there are influential Nigerians interested in his case. Thousands of youths may be languishing in various prisons today across the country, without anybody knowing their whereabouts, even though they are innocent.
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Quadri’s undoing was his innocent desire for a better Nigeria. In his innocence, he had strongly believed that a Peter Obi administration could help him realise his dream. In a blaze of hope and unmatched optimism, young Quadri had spread himself in front of the automobile bearing the politician, in a magnetic aura that captivated the world. That unique welcome added colour to Obi’s presidential electioneering campaign.
Obi’s supporters expressed appreciation by giving him some financial gifts. Thus, the seed of envy and animosity was down.
Beyond the release of young Quadri and the promise to sponsor his education, those who genuinely want to help him should begin with relocating him and his family from the toxic environment inhabited by his tormentors.
Something tells me that Quadri will be flown abroad for a better life. No investment on him will be too much to save a detribalised Nigerian.
