Photos: After 22yrs in US prison, Yakubu Gowon's son, Musa granted clemency by Obama

Former Nigerian President, General Yakabu Gowon and late Edith Ike Okongwu are the parents of Musa Jack Ngonadi Gowon, who was recently released from a prison in California after serving 25 years there.Young Musa had relocated to the US with his mum where he lived until his arrest in 1992. 

Left photo: This was the month he was arrested. ..he was 23 and right photo: This is in prison. ..he actually graduated with a degree in law while in prison..that's his half brother Richard.  Read the full story of his travail and released after the cut...

 

This was written by Barrister Chukwudi Iwuchukwu, 

On November 18, 1992, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Customs Service arrested Musa, Jack Spencer, for conspiring to import in excess of one kilogram of heroin. Jack Musa Gowon, who was 23 years old at that time was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the allegation of smuggling  heroin from source countries.

Jack Musa Gowon protested vehemently through his legal team  that he was innocent and was framed up and his protest were ignored by the Jury and was harshly  sentenced to 324 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  

 Musa timely appealed, challenging the admission into evidence of the Hotel Guide, the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction, and the district court's upward adjustment of his base offense level on the basis that he was an organizer or leader in the conspiracy

When the appeal to quash his conviction failed, Musa took that decision  in his stride believing set back like this is not end of his life 

As an inmate of Taft Correctional Facility, Musa Jack Gowon was a role model and a legal adviser to all the inmates

He was well behaved and a source of inspiration  to co- inmates  who have  given up on life
The prison warden  loved and worshiped the ground he tread on

Permit me to mention that Musa  enrolled in one of the universities around and successfully graduated with a degree in Law as a prison inmate

This commendable act of Leadership did not go unnoticed and he was rewarded severally by prison authorities

While all these were going on, Musa's  family has never stopped fighting to get him out of prison and calls for his release began to grow louder

Happy to report that President Obama heard the calls for Musa's release and acted in that regard by granting him a parole

 Musa walked out of Taft Correctional Facility Bakersfield California as a free man on November 2nd  and he is currently at  ICE Detention Center Bakersfield CA where he will be deported back to Nigeria any moment from now 

Musa Jack Ngonaadi is grateful to his Dad, General Yakubu Gowon, his friends and his relatives from his maternal side who  stood by him and supported him also all through the period of his unjust  incarceration that he did not commit the crime he was wrongly accused of 

Musa will narrate his own side of the story very soon and he is grateful to God who kept him alive and well to see this day 

This article was written by Barrister Chukwudi Iwuchukwu, Principal founder of Visage Media . A PR company based in In Lagos