A mason, Adeshina Adewuyi, has been tortured to death by a team of policemen who raided his community in Itoki, Ogun State.
It was learnt that the policemen, numbering about seven and attached to the Agbado division, picked up the deceased around 4pm on Saturday and ordered him to enter a bus they brought to the area.
Forty-five-year-old Adeshina was said to have declined to enter the bus, demanding to know the offence he had committed.
He reportedly fled but was chased and arrested. He was beaten up, bundled inside the bus and whisked away.
Our correpondent learnt that he was later released around 7am with injuries on his back.
The father of six was said to have been given a drug which he vomited before he died.
One of the children of the deceased, 10-year-old Jonathan Adewuyi, who spoke in Yoruba, said one of the policemen hit his father’s head with the butt of his gun.
He said, “I am an apprentice at an auto spare parts shop beside our house. On Saturday, some policemen came to collect money from my boss, but he said he did not have any. My father wanted to cross to the other side of the road, but they stopped him. He fled, but one of them chased him with a motorcycle while others followed.
“They caught him and hit his head with the butts of their guns. He shouted for help, but nobody answered. The policemen dragged him inside their bus. I can identify two of them.”
The wife of the deceased, Mrs. Turanyo Adewuyi, said the policemen gave her husband N500 to buy food and find his way back home from the station after torturing him. She demanded that the erring cops be brought to book.
She said, “My husband was a bricklayer (mason) and farmer. He was going to those working with him in a building opposite our house when the policemen arrested him. They did not find anything incriminating on him. He came back around 7pm, complaining of pains and headache. We bought paracetamol for him, but he vomited it. He died around 12am.
“The policemen that killed my husband must be punished. We have six children and the burden of their upkeep is now solely on me.”
The auto-spare parts dealer, Donatus Obina, told our correspondent that the cops had indeed come to collect money from him, adding that people were afraid to come to Adeshina’s aid.
A police source told PUNCH that the Divisional Police Officer lined up members of the team and the deceased’s son identified two of the cops that tortured his father.
“The DPO had warned us to desist from acts that could dent the image of the force. He called for an internal parade and lined up the policemen on duty that day before the deceased’s son. The two cops he identified have been disarmed and detained. They will be transferred to the command headquarters in Abeokuta,” the source said.
A resident, who identified himself only as Fisayo, said policemen had turned the community into an avenue for making money.
“We are afraid of policemen in this community. They come and arrest people indiscriminately to extort money from residents. There was a time I was arrested and had to part with N9,000 before I was released. The policemen responsible for Adeshina’s death must face the law.” he added.
The Itoki Youth Chairman, Toluwalope Alatishe, said the incident demonstrated an utter disregard for human rights and called for the prosecution of the cops.
He said, “Adeshina was hard-working and easy-going man and did not deserve to be killed like a fowl. His corpse has been deposited in a mortuary.”
The Ogun State Police spokesperson, DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the state Commissioner of Police , Abdulmajid Ali, had waded into the matter, noting that the policemen would face the weight of the law if found culpable.
He said, “A family alleged that some policemen from the Agbado division tortured their relative to death. The DPO called for an identification parade and the deceased’s son, who witnessed the incident, identified two policemen. However, the policemen denied the allegation.
“The CP ordered that they should be transferred to the state command, Eleweran, tomorrow (Tuesday) for discreet investigation.
“If the policemen are found culpable, they will face the music because nobody sent them to torture anybody.”
