Today was a reminder of why this work matters. ❤️⚖️

Today, three boys represented by CRJJC walked out of court as free children.

One had been in detention since 2025. Two others had been detained since 2024. For their families, these were not just “cases” on a court list. These were their children, boys they had been separated from for years, with little understanding of what was happening with their cases or when they would come home.

In July, CRJJC met the children at the NCoS Borstal Training Institute, Adigbe. We began tracing their matters across the courts.

For one of the boys, we discovered that his case had already been struck out in March 2026. Yet he remained in detention. We immediately applied for the release order, followed up on its issuance, paid the necessary costs for its transmission, and ensured it was served on the Borstal Institute on Friday, 14 August.

Today, he walked out.

For the other two boys, their case file had to be traced to the Ijoko Magistrate Court. We followed up with the Court, ensured that the boys were produced for today's proceedings and continued to advocate for their release. The Magistrate noted that the complainant appeared to have abandoned the matter, and the boys were released to their families.

After years apart, their parents were able to take their children home.

This is what our work at CRJJC looks like.

It is the hours spent searching court registries. The calls and follow-ups. The journeys between courts. The applications. The filing and transmission costs. The logistics of getting children to court. The conversations with prosecutors and court officials. And, most importantly, the determination to keep going until we find an answer for a child who has been waiting.

These three boys are not statistics. They are children with families, lives and futures waiting for them.

And today, they went home.

There are still other children waiting. Other files to trace. Other families waiting for answers.

We will keep searching. We will keep advocating. We will keep showing up.

Because no child should spend years in detention simply because no one followed up on their case.