An Ogoni family in Rivers State is demanding justice and accountability after their son, arrested at 14, spent 18 years in prison without trial or legal representation.

The family of Gospel Kinanee has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government, the Rivers State Government, and the Ministry of Interior, alleging gross violations of his fundamental rights and the destruction of his youth and health.

According to his elder brother, Paul Kinanee, Gospel disappeared one night in 2007 from their community in Rivers State. The family launched a frantic search, visiting police stations and correctional centres across the state, including the Port Harcourt Maximum Security Custodial Centre. Each visit ended the same way: officials denied any record of the teenager.

Paul said the years of uncertainty and fruitless searching took a devastating toll on the family. Their parents, he recounted, died without ever learning what happened to their son, worn down by grief and unanswered questions.

The truth emerged only recently, when a lawyer on a routine visit to the Port Harcourt prison noticed an inmate whose appearance and story matched the description of the long-missing boy. The lawyer alerted Paul and later returned to the facility with him. There, Paul came face to face with his brother, now a 32-year-old man, who had spent more than half his life behind bars.

Gospel, the family says, had never been formally arraigned, tried, or given access to a lawyer. He had simply vanished into the system, one of many awaiting trial inmates lost in overcrowded cells and neglected case files.

His eventual release came during a jail delivery exercise led by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, which reviewed long-pending cases and ordered the discharge of Gospel and 20 other inmates.

By then, the damage was profound. Years of incarceration and isolation have reportedly left Gospel with serious psychological trauma and mental health challenges. His family is now seeking substantial compensation and a full investigation into how a child could be detained for nearly two decades without trial.

Rights advocates say the case underscores systemic failures in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, particularly the plight of awaiting-trial inmates, and are calling for urgent reforms to prevent similar tragedies.