One of the suspects arrested by operatives of
the Zonal Intervention Squad, Obada,
Abeokuta, Ogun State, in a case of alleged
theft of company goods, has narrated how his
co-suspect, Jubril Mohammed, was tortured
to death by police operatives.
Muhammed claimed that the policemen
tortured the 20-year-old till he collapsed,
adding that he was taken to a hospital where
he died.
Jubril was among the eight suspects
transferred from the Ibafo Police Station to
the ZIS.
The Borno State indigene was allegedly
beaten to death by detectives investigating
the alleged theft few days after he was
bought to the ZIS.
The unit commander reportedly broke the
news of his death to the family on Monday.
The Zone 2 Police Public Relations Officer,
CSP Dolapo Badmos, however, said the victim
was sick before he died.
She said, “It’s a case of people suspected to
have stolen their company’s goods estimated
at N10m. About five of them were arrested.
The suspect in question made a voluntary
confessional statement to the police and even
led operatives to the receiver of the stolen
goods, which were recovered.
“While investigation was ongoing, he
complained of stomach ache.
His father also
attested to the fact that he had ulcer. He
brought the medication to be used, but the
police said they could not administer it.
“They initially thought he was pretending, but
he was taken to a hospital where he died.
An
autopsy will be conducted on the corpse to
determine the actual cause of death.”
But Muhammed said the victim died from the
injuries he sustained from the torture.
He said, “Seven of us were initially arrested
before one other person was added to us.
Jubril was tortured to the point that he could
not even walk. We were the ones carrying him
out after every round of torture.
“On Monday, after the usual beating, the
policemen brought us out and took our
photographs.
They said they were taking us to
court that morning. After taking the
photographs, Jubril collapsed. They gave me a
tin of milk to give him, but he did not
respond.
He was rushed to a hospital where
he was confirmed dead.”
The victim’s cousin, Saheed Isa, said Jubril
had been working as a security guard at the
company, Barka Nigeria Limited in Magboro,
for about one year.
He stated, “The owner of the company, a
Lebanese, travelled out of the country. Jubril
was called by some co-workers to join them in
cleaning the warehouse, preparatory to the
arrival of their boss.
“That was going on when he was told that
some things had been stolen from the
warehouse.
He told the co-workers that he did
not know anything about it because he did not
have access to the keys to the
warehouse.Later, their boss invited the police
and they were taken to the Ibafo Police
Station on Friday, December 14, 2018.”
Isa said although Jubril denied knowledge of
the missing goods during interrogation, he
identified two co-workers, who had earlier
approached him to take part in a shady deal.
The victim reportedly claimed that he was
asked by the men to either take N300,000
and quit the job or get killed.
Isa added, “He told us that he was afraid and
he told the other workers. He said he decided
to agree with the gang to avoid being killed,
but confided in some workers that whenever
the gang would bring trucks to steal goods
from the company, he would raise the alarm
on them and shut the gate so that they could
be arrested.
“Unknown to him, the gang had carried out
the theft without informing him. That was why
he was surprised when he was told that the
goods had been stolen and he quickly pointed
out those he suspected were the culprits.”
The victim’s cousin said Jubril was released
on bail after a few days in custody, adding
that his father, Ibrahim Mohammed, paid
N30,000 to secure his bail.
However, the 20-year-old was re-arrested on
Thursday, December 20, 2018, after the case
was transferred to the ZIS in Abeokuta.
Jubril’s father, Ibrahim, said when he visited
his son a day after he was re-arrested, he
could not recognise him again.
Ibrahim noted, “I went to the station on Friday
and after waiting till the evening, they brought
him to me. I saw a lot of injuries on my son’s
body. They had tortured him seriously. He said
they told him to confess or else they would
kill him.
He could barely walk. The owner of
the company said the stolen goods were
worth about N7m and N8m.
“When I returned to visit him on Monday, their
commander called me into his office and
asked me if my son had been sick before, and
I said no. He said my son was dead.
“I asked the police to release his corpse to
me, but they said they wanted to conduct an
autopsy. I asked if that would wake him up.
I
want to bury him. I don’t have anybody to
fight for me.”
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