The family of 35-year-old Abdulqadri Jimoh, who reportedly died under suspicious circumstances in police custody in Ilorin, Kwara State, has called for justice and financial compensation from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
They allege that he was tortured to death by officers during his detention.
Addressing journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, the convener of the human rights campaign “Justice For Olatunji Jimoh,” Mr. Owolabi Olumuyiwa-Tayo, also asked the police to provide the cause of the death of the deceased and make the autopsy report public.
Present at the press conference were: nine-year-old Aisha Abdulqadri and six-year-old Amidat Abdulqadri (the deceased’s children), mother Adijat Jimoh (60 years), father Jimoh Alabi (65 years), elder brother Ismail Jimoh, and lawyer Olukayode Oloyede, among other members of the Balogun Fulani area of the Ilorin emirate.
The family said, “The family is crying out to the public and the Nigeria Police Force to help investigate the case so that it will not be swept under the carpet.”
“We are asking that the officers who unlawfully arrested him be punished, that the welfare and education of his two children be looked into, that the two aged parents be cared for because of their failing health as a result of the rude shock they suffered, and that the Nigeria Police Force pay for damages,” the convener said.
Olumuyiwa-Tayo, who narrated the situation leading to the death of Abdulqadri, said the deceased was lured out of his house by a co-worker, Jelili Kehinde, before he was arrested by the police.
“It is no longer news that a 35-year-old promising farmer and the breadwinner from the family of Jimoh Alabi (Olatunji Jimoh) died in the custody of the Nigeria Police Force on December 20, 2024. It was established that on December 19, 2024, Olatunji Jimoh was washing clothes at home in the Balogun Fulani area of Ilorin around 5:00 pm when his friend came to lure him out.
“Olatunji was abducted by members of the Nigeria Police Force Special Investigation Bureau (SIB) while riding on a bike when Mr. Jelili Kehinde, who had come to lure him out, alighted from the bike. The officers jumped on the bike and drove him to the police headquarters in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“At around 6:00 pm, Olatunji made a call to a member of his family, who later came to the station to find out what had happened, knowing that Olatunji owed his superior at work, Mr. Gabriel Sunday, who works at Olam Offa, the sum of N220,000.00.
“Moreover, his family was prepared to pay the amount, out of N425,000.00 sent to him by his aunt, but the police officers, one Mr. Adekunle Emmanuel Ogunshola, Mr. Emmanuel Ajiboye, and Mr. Oluwole Bamiteko, denied him bail, even after the payment was made. The family was told to come back the following morning while the mother cried profusely.
“Around 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm, a strange call was made to his sister, asking them to come to the police station. When she told them that it was late because she had a baby she was nursing, the call continued until around 2:00 am to 7:00 am. The family gathered in front of the police headquarters but was not allowed to enter until around 8:00 am, when they were called back and told the news that Olatunji had hung himself in the cell.
“The mother broke down in tears and demanded to see the cell. Upon reaching the cell, it was established that the cell was not even 6 feet, while Olatunji was taller than 6 feet. They later asked how he could have hung himself, and the police officers told them that he knelt down and hanged himself.
“They called for questioning. The family later demanded the remaining body of Olatunji when they learned that the body had been taken to the mortuary without the family’s consent.
“Around 9:00 am to 10:00 am, they arrived at the mortuary and discovered that his lap had already been dissected, and some wounds were found on his body,” he recalled.
