Lucky John

2012

Forty-year-old Lucky John, a commercial bus driver in Lagos, was out to earn his daily bread when he was picked up by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on November 27, 2012. His wife, Folake, worried when he did not return home that night, went out in search of him the next day. He wasn’t in any of his usual spots and none of his colleagues knew his whereabouts. With no luck, she contacted his family members who joined in the search.

She filed a missing persons report at Igando Police Station a while later, believing her husband had been kidnapped. The search for him continued. 

Three days after Christmas, Folake received a call that Lucky was in SARS custody at Ikeja. He was in the newspapers, where he was paraded as an armed robber.

The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) at the station confirmed he was in their custody but requested a bail of N200,000 before anyone would be allowed to see him. An investigation by New Telegraph would later reveal he had been killed by SARS, but his family did not know this yet. Months after his disappearance, his wife continued to receive calls from SARS saying they were ready to release her husband in exchange for money.

The last time Folake went to the station, she was told he had been transferred and warned never to return there. Folake, who had been married to Lucky for sixteen years, told reporter Juliana Francis: 

“Even in the newspaper, he was confessing to so many things, but I know him. He is not capable of robbing anyone.”

The only evidence of his guilt, according to the police, was his phone number which was found on the contact list of an alleged armed robber. He never stood before any court.