EndSARS protest: Woman regains freedom after giving birth in prison

An 18-year-old pregnant EndSARS protesters, Kemisola Oguniyi, who recently gave birth in prison, has regained her freedom, alongside her baby after the Ondo State High Court sitting at Olokuta Medium Prison in Akure granted bail to the new mother after seven months in the correctional centre.

The court ruling that led to their freedom may not be unconnected to controversies that trailed their continued detention and concerns raised by Nigerians that the state of the facility was not hygienic for the new mother and her baby and that it was inhumane to subject the young creature to such harrowing prison experience.

The embattled young mother who was remanded in Surulere Prison in Ondo town, Ondo East Local Government Area of the state had been charged with theft, conspiracy, arson, riotous assembly, and malicious damage.

Ogunniyi, who was two months pregnant before the arrest, was remanded in the female custodial facility after a court of competent jurisdiction ruled on November 24, 2020, after the Nigerian Police arraigned her for various offences.

But in her ruling on Tuesday, the presiding judge, Justice Omolara Adejumo, granted Kemisola bail in the sum of N10m and a surety in like sum.

The judge also ordered prison authorities to bring Kemisola and her newborn as a prelude to releasing her from prison.