The family of Olalekan Oladiti has demanded justice for his alleged death in the hands of men of the Nigeria Police Force.
In a bid to escape arrest, the 24-year-old allegedly fled from Lagos and hid in the family house of his childhood friend, one Ridwan Babalola, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Olalekan’s boss, one Uduak Ekpenyong, got his guarantor, identified simply as Iya Ibrahim, arrested and detained for several hours.
However, through his girlfriend, Omowunmi Rajasat, men of the Lagos State Police Command tracked Olalekan down to the Power line bus stop in Moniya, Ibadan, where he was arrested.
But the story took another dimension when he was asked to take the cops to his hideout in the area.
We learnt that Olalekan led the policemen to Ridwan’s room, but was later carried out and dumped in their patrol vehicle after being allegedly tortured.
Ridwan said his friend died in the custody of the police, adding that an eyewitness, identified simply as Daddy Anu, who was surprised that Olalekan walked into the room but was being carried out by the policemen, challenged them and was also assaulted.
He said,
“Olalekan was tortured in the room and after the policemen took him away; my dad’s uncle informed me that my dad, Abiodun, told him that he died in police custody.”
Iya Ibrahim told our correspondent on the telephone that Olalekan, while still in hiding, appealed to his boss to release her when he learnt of her arrest.
Ekpenyong said the amount stolen was over N1m, adding that he was dumbfounded when he learnt that investigation to unravel Olalekan’s whereabouts so as to recover the money allegedly led to his death.
He stated,
“The money is over N1m, so, I had to report at the police station after 24 hours. But when the guarantor could not provide him in a week, we had to employ an independent tracker, who assisted us in tracking him to Ibadan, where he was arrested. I was told that he died two hours after he was arrested. But the representative I sent to identify him did not follow them to Olalekan’s house.”
He said,
“Members of the family and I visited the police command headquarters, where we met with the IPO, who brought out his file and showed us the pictures of his corpse.
“But when we met with the state Commissioner of Police, I asked how my brother would die in their custody and they refused to inform us two days after. He calmed me down and said a post-mortem would be done to ascertain the cause of death. But while writing my statement, I realised that the IPO was hiding a picture from us and I asked if that picture would be included among the ones he would take to the court to get approval for the post-mortem and he said no.
“We told him to give us a letter so that we could see my brother’s corpse at the Adeoyo State Hospital’s mortuary, but he refused. I am suspecting that he is hiding something and I am calling on the government to help my family get justice.”
Fadeyi stated, “The police officers handling the case in Lagos State tracked him down to Moniya, in Ibadan through his girlfriend, Omowunmi, and upon sighting the police, he became unnecessarily apprehensive and collapsed.
But a source, in the Afonka Police Station said Olalekan was not tortured, adding that the result of an autopsy on the corpse was being awaited to reveal the cause of death.
The source said,
“So, we rushed him to the Don Hospital on Iwo Road, where it was discovered that he had low blood pressure and was later transferred to the UCH, where he was confirmed dead. We are waiting for the autopsy report to determine the cause of death.”
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