According to a report from The Punch, Lukman Adeyemi, a 50-year-old bricklayer, was just 26 when he accompanied a friend to a police station and ended up spending 24 years in jail.
Detained in August 2000, Adeyemi endured nine years in pre-trial detention and 15 years on death row before his release on June 14, 2024.
Adeyemi recounted that his loyalty to his friend led to severe physical and psychological torment by SARS police officers, who coerced him into confessing to crimes he didn't commit.
He was charged with the murder of a woman hired by his friend's ex-associates.
Despite his claims of innocence, Adeyemi was sentenced to death in 2009, and his appeals to the Supreme Court failed.
In June 2023, an officer of the Correctional Service introduced Adeyemi's case to Pastor Hezekiah Olujobi of the Centre for Justice Mercy and Reconciliation (CJMR).
The CJMR team visited Adeyemi and the actual culprits, who confessed to the crime and exonerated him.
Their findings were forwarded to the Attorney-General of Ogun State, leading to Adeyemi's release.
Pastor Olujobi highlighted contradictions in the court judgments and the failure of the appellate court to recognize Adeyemi's innocence.
Now at the CJMR Halfway Home, Adeyemi is undergoing recovery and reintegration.
Adeyemi expressed gratitude to CJMR for believing in his innocence, stating, "Her belief in my innocence reignited the flame of justice within me, propelling me toward the possibility of redemption."