A legal luminary, Aare Afe
Babalola, on Monday, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed
Adamu, over the arrest and death of one Mr. Kehinde Omotosho.
Babalola in a petition made
available in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, alleged that Omotosho
was arrested and detained by some officers of the anti-cultism unit of the Oyo
State Criminal Investigation Department last week.
The legal luminary further
explained that Omotosho was detained for six days without trial, the arrest
which led to his death in police custody.
Babalola in a petition signed by
one of the lawyers in his chamber, Mr. Oluwasina Ogungbade, appealed to Adamu
to use his office to set up an investigation into the allegations contained in
his petition.
He said, “We are Solicitors to
Miss Khadijat Omotosho (for herself and on behalf of other children of the late
Mr. Kehinde Omotosho), and have her instructions to present to you, this
Petition regarding the unlawful arrest, detention and eventual death of her
father, Mr. Kehinde Omotosho, (hereinafter referred to as the deceased) on 21st
July 2020 while in custody of the police officers attached to the Anti-Cultism
Unit of the Oyo State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan.
“As we shall subsequently detail,
this Petition has been presented to request urgent investigation of not only
the propriety of the arrest and detention of the deceased in lieu of another
person for a period of 5 days until his eventual demise but also more
importantly, the circumstances surrounding his death which are rendered
particularly suspicious and disturbing by a seeming attempt by certain Police
Officials to cover up and distort the events leading up to this tragic
incident”.
“In the early hours of Friday,
17th July 2020 (at about 12:30am), several police officers from the
Anti-Cultism Unit of the Oyo State CID stormed the residence of our clients’
father’s house at No. 2, Ifedapo Zone 2, Alaja Meta, Gbaremu, Idi-Obi, Ibadan,
where the deceased resided alongside other tenants. The officers from the
Anti-Cultism Unit were accompanied by some other police officers in Agugu
Police Division, led by one officer identified simply as ‘SOJ’.
“After breaking down the door of
our client’s father’s residence, Mr. Omotosho (now deceased), the police
officers demanded to see one Mr. Kabiru who, about 5 months prior to that time,
had moved to another apartment in a different vicinity. Upon realizing that
their prime suspect, Mr. Kabiru, no longer resided in the apartment, the police
officers arrested the two occupants of the house – Mr. Omotosho (now deceased)
and one Mr. Jelili Razaq – in lieu of the suspect. At the point of arrest, both
Mr. Omotosho and Mr. Jelili Razaq requested to know the crime for which they
were being arrested but instead, the police officers gun-whipped them with
their weapons several times. Thereafter, the police officers from the Agugu
Police Division (led by SOJ) returned to the Agugu Station while officers from
the Anti-Cultism Unit proceeded with both the deceased and Mr. Jelili Razaq to
the State CID. They were thereafter locked in the cell, alongside about 130
(One Hundred and Thirty) inmates. This was around 1:20am on Friday, 17th July
2020.
“On Monday, 20th July 2020, the
deceased and Mr. Jelili Razaq were brought before the Officer-in-Charge of the
Anti-Cultism Unit for interview. In the course of the interview, the OC
demanded that both the deceased and Mr. Jelili Razaq produce their prime
suspect, Mr. Kabiru, before they could be released. However, both the deceased
and Mr. Jelili Razaq informed the OC that they were all co-tenants, and that
Mr. Kabiru had relocated to another place and did not inform them of his new
location. Nevertheless, the OC insisted that their release would be consequent
upon their production of Mr. Kabiru. They were, thereafter, returned to the
cell. It was at the point of this interview that the police informed the
deceased and Mr. Jelili Razaq that the prime suspect, Mr. Kabiru, was involved
in a fight, which led to the death of a person. There was however no suspicion
or allegation that either the deceased or Mr. Jelili Razaq were involved in the
said fight or committed any crime whatsoever.
“The following day, i.e. on 21st
July at about 5am, Mr. Kehinde Omotosho, our clients’ father, died in police
custody. Prior to his death, the deceased spent 5 days in detention while Mr.
Jelili Razaq spent 6 days before being released on bail, both without any
investigation, reasonable suspicion of crime, or arraignment.
“From the moment of their arrest
and until the death of the deceased, the officers of the Anti-Cultism Unit
prevented the deceased’s and Mr. Jelili Razaq’s family members from visiting
them or providing them with food. Prior to his unlawful arrest, detention and
death, the deceased had no underlying medical ailment”.
But, Police Public Relations
Officer of the State Police Command, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, while reacting, said
that the deceased took ill in detention and was taking to the police clinic
where he later died.
Fadeyi added that autopsy will
still be conducted on the deceased body so as to know the cause of death.
“What happened was a clash
between the OPC and some suspected cultist around Agugu area of Ibadan, which
led to the death of someone, arrest was made and some suspects arrested were
screened according to the level of their involvement in the clash, suspect
might be detained more than 24 hours when it comes to the issue of murders and
rape so as to do investigation properly.”
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