Hakeem Busari, the Kogi State Commissioner of Police has reportedly intervened in the alleged torture of one Emeka Uyamadu, by policemen and how he lost his life at the Federal Prison , Kabba.
The family of the deceased insisted that the 30 – year -old was tortured by some policemen attached to the Kabba Police Station.
The deceased, who was subsequently arraigned before a magistrates’ court which remanded him in the Federal Prison, Kabba.
The Police have completely denied and rejected the claim, saying that the deceased, Emeka was never tortured by the Police and his cause of his death should be traced to the Prison.
WITHINNIGERIA had earlier reported that Emeka had a disagreement with his brother , Chibuike , over the use of a motorcycle they both shared.
In the course of the disagreement , some soldiers reportedly intervened and handed the brothers over to policemen to resolve the dispute .
According to Punch reports, we gathered that the policemen took the brothers to the station and allegedly forced Chibuike to lodge a complaint of assault against Emeka .
It was learnt that the policemen asked the brothers to come back the following day to “ close the case ” with the sum of N 40 ,000 .
Their mother , Justina, said the policemen came to her shop the following day to pick up Emeka for failing to show up at the station .
She added that her son resisted arrest on the grounds that the matter had been resolved, adding that he was subsequently tortured before he was taken to the station and charged.
Emeka was arraigned on three counts bordering on assault and injury at the instance of his brother , and resisting lawful arrest at the instance of the police .
The court reportedly admitted him to bail on the allegation of assault , but suspended the ruling on the bail application on the allegation of resisting arrest till June 17 , and ordered that he should be remanded in the Federal Prison, Kabba, where he died due to alleged negligence by the prison personnel .
The deceased ’ s sister , Chinelo Ofokansi , however , faulted the police claim, adding that the CP had stepped into the case .
Ofokansi told our correspondent on Tuesday, “ Last week , the Commissioner of Police summoned my mum and the policemen involved. My mum narrated her own version of the story and he questioned the policemen too. He made them understand the implication of what they had done and said if they were found guilty, they would be dismissed and prosecuted .
“ The CP requested the result of the autopsy that was conducted on Emeka , but the policemen went behind to collect the result . So, the CP demanded that another autopsy should be conducted by an external doctor from Lokoja ; he also wrote the first doctor to bring the old result .
“ That is where we are now; we are waiting for the result , which will determine if the police will come to Kabba for investigation. ”
The Divisional Crime Officer of the Kabba Police Station, Collins Olaolu , said it was the deceased ’ s brother who helped his men to arrest Emeka , adding that he was not tortured before being charged .
He stated, “ What happened was that the victim ’ s elder came to the station and reported that Emeka was fighting with him and wanted to injure him . We went there to invite the victim , but he said he was not coming . I told my men to withdraw and we went back to the station, because it was getting late .
“ The following day , I was at the station when the mother of the two brothers sent someone to the station that her children had started fighting again . I sent my men to bring the brothers. When they got there , Emeka still resisted arrest. It was his brother , who held his hands for my men to put handcuffs .
“ When they brought him to the station , the DPO said we should charge him immediately and he was arraigned in less than an hour and it was the court that remanded him . No soldiers were involved in the case and we never tortured him while he was with us. Whatever happened to him must have happened in the prison .”
When contacted , the state Police Public Relations Officer , Mr William Aya , said , “ The police do not accept suspects who are already injured . Emeka was charged and remanded on the same day without being tortured.
“ Based on the petition , an investigation will be initiated to look into the circumstances surrounding his death . We will still have to go down to the division to find out what led the brothers to fight each other and why Chibuike and the mother of the deceased made a statement . ”