Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Pierre Antoine
A Nigerian widow has renewed a decades-long appeal for justice after claiming that her son was wrongly convicted of armed robbery at the age of 17 and has now spent 28 years behind bars awaiting execution. The case, which has resurfaced through her emotional public account, has drawn renewed attention to concerns about prolonged death-row incarceration, the pace of Nigeria's criminal justice system, and longstanding questions surrounding due process in capital cases.
The renewed appeal became public on June 27, 2026, when Mrs Celestina Amadi, a 75-year-old widow from Abazu Akabo in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State, recounted the family's ordeal in an interview published by Sunday PUNCH. At the centre of the case is her son, David Amadi, who was arrested in 1998 as a teenager and later sentenced to death alongside two other defendants. According to Mrs Amadi, the conviction followed an armed robbery case that her family insists was based on false allegations. Court appeals were unsuccessful, leaving the conviction intact.
For Mrs Amadi, the passage of nearly three decades has done little to ease the emotional burden of the case. Instead, she says every passing year has reinforced her belief that her son has remained imprisoned for an offence he did not commit. Now aged 45, David Amadi has spent more than half of his life in custody, a period that has transformed what began as a criminal prosecution into a story of enduring family hardship.
According to her account, the events that changed the family's life began in 1998 when police officers arrived at their home searching for David. She said her husband informed the officers that their son had travelled to a dance event in Uzoagba. Police allegedly continued searching for him before eventually locating and arresting him at a funeral gathering.
Mrs Amadi alleged that officers physically assaulted her son during the arrest before transporting him to Owerri for investigation. These allegations have not been independently verified, and there has been no public response from the police regarding the claims. Nevertheless, they form a central part of the family's account of the events leading to his prosecution.
She recalled learning of the arrest only after returning from her farm later that day. Believing the matter would quickly be clarified, she prepared food for her son and asked another of her children to search for him. After visiting several detention facilities, the family eventually located David at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Owerri.
Mrs Amadi said she visited him repeatedly while he remained in police custody. During that period, police officers also searched the family's residence but, according to her account, found nothing linking David to any criminal activity. She maintains that no incriminating evidence was recovered despite repeated searches.
The widow said another young man from the community, identified as Ikechi, was later arrested in connection with the same investigation. She alleged that officers similarly searched his residence without finding evidence before taking him into custody. The arrests, she said, left both families struggling to understand the basis of the investigation.
According to Mrs Amadi, the robbery allegation emerged about a month after David's arrest when a member of the community reported that money had been stolen during an armed robbery. She said the complainant accused David and others of involvement in the crime, an accusation her family has consistently rejected.
Seeking answers, Mrs Amadi and the mother of another suspect reportedly visited the complainant to ask when the robbery had occurred and why their sons had been implicated. She alleged that the complainant declined to discuss the matter and instead dismissed their questions, telling them the matter could no longer be reversed. That encounter, she said, convinced her that the family faced a lengthy legal battle.
The emotional strain extended beyond the courtroom. Mrs Amadi said her late husband became deeply distressed following their son's arrest and subsequent prosecution. According to her, he repeatedly called for David and struggled to cope with what he believed was an injustice. She believes the stress contributed to health complications that eventually led to his death, although no independent medical evidence has been presented linking his illness directly to the case.
As the criminal proceedings advanced, the family secured legal representation only after formal charges had been filed. Mrs Amadi said they were unable to hire a lawyer during the initial period of police detention because of financial constraints. The lack of early legal assistance remains one of the issues frequently raised by criminal justice advocates, who argue that access to legal counsel from the moment of arrest is a fundamental safeguard for defendants.
Mrs Amadi maintains that prosecutors failed to produce evidence directly placing her son at the scene of the robbery. She further claimed that the complainant acknowledged during proceedings that the robbers wore masks, raising questions, in the family's view, about how suspects were identified. Despite those arguments, the trial court ultimately convicted David Amadi and two co-defendants, sentencing all three men to death.
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