A man on death row, Ganiyu Onabanjo, seeking to appeal his conviction has discovered that the records of his case have gone missing.
Onabanjo’s case was taken over by the Centre for Justice, Mercy and Reconciliation, which sought to file appeal against his conviction.
The convict was arrested on allegation of armed robbery on June 9, 2006 and subsequently sentenced to death on October 9, 2009 by a Lagos High Court.
Hezekiah Olujobi, Director of the centre, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Ibadan that they have been trying to get the court records of the convict but to no avail.
Olujobi said: “We appeal to the Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke and the Attorney General, Adeniji Khazeem, to save Ganiyu Onabanjo, currently on death row in Ibara Prison, Ogun.
“He was sentenced to death on October 9, 2009, by Justice Dada, on suit number LD/155C/07, the state Vs Ganiyu Onabanjo, from Lagos State High Court, which was transferred to Ogun.
“There was a renovation of the Lagos judiciary archives in 2010 which led to the misplacement of court records and made us not to be able to trace the court records to file further appeal in the higher court.
“We wrote letters to the Lagos State Chief Judge in 2016 and 2017 regarding this, but received no response.
“We, therefore, beg Justice Oke and Khazeem to please intervene in the case of Onabanjo and save him from death.
“He should be released if they can’t get his case file. We shall remain forever grateful if our request is granted.”
