The red carpet prisoner

On September 23, 2008, shouts and crashing doors shattered the peace of a small town in southern Germany. Police officers drove Idenuwa Atewe, his wife Bärbel, and his daughter and stepson from their beds and ransacked their house. After hours of searching with no incriminating item found, they arrested Idenuwa, a Nigeria citizen, and took him to jail on marijuana-related charges, leaving his terrified daughter and entire family behind in disbelief. Born in a large, polygamous family to the daughter of a respected holy man, Idenuwa carried the real-life rank of prince — though his riches were spiritual rather than financial. He struggled to finish his secondary education, only to find that work was scarce. Despite being swindled as a police officer by a man and his voodoo-priest collaborators, he summed up hope, fought harder, and risked everything in a move to Germany. There in Germany, he fell in love with Bärbel, and with her help he founded a successful international business. After his arrest, however, his company faltered and his hopes weakened. Shuttled from prison to prison, he sought to prove his innocence to indifferent judges and lawyers, facing threats of expulsion, deportation and isolation from his family. He also observed the destructive effects of imprisonment on other prisoners around him, many of whom would never again be truly free. This book is his plea to stop the unjust and dehumanizing treatment of accused persons and their family, and also a source of insight for loved ones supporting someone who has been incarcerated. Carried by the love of God and of his wife, Idenuwa escaped physical and mental hell. In The Red-Carpet Prisoner, he hopes to help others to find hope as well as justice.