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| Ismaila on hospital bed, a day after he was beaten by the policemen |
They alleged that policemen from Ipaja Police Station, Alagolo, regularly raid the area, arrest residents and lock them up until they part with some money, which could be as high as N1,500 before they are released.
But on September 8, 2011, the policemen carried out their usual raid and arrested a bus-load of men, including a 52-year-old baker, Mr. Ismaila Quadri.
Ismaila thoroughly beaten and handcuffed to a motorcycle in the police station
Of the lot, Ismaila was unlucky. He was allegedly brutalised in the cell by the policemen and in the process had a spinal cord injury.
Ismaila told his wife, Mariam, that he was thoroughly beaten and handcuffed to a motorcycle in the station by the policemen who abandoned him and went away to raid more people.
Mariam said, “By the time they got back, he was unconscious. The policemen and another man who was arrested with him then took my husband to a clinic, Agape Hospital, Olude.
“He had mixed a whole bag of flour and he was resting when the policemen came into the bakery and arrested him.
“My husband told me that one of the policemen identified simply as Mayor and his colleagues were the ones who beat him. A day after the beating, he could neither stand nor go to the toilet by himself.”
Mariam said Ismaila spent six days in the private hospital and when his situation deteriorated, he was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, where he died last Monday, 11 days after he was arrested by the police.
“My husband was taken by the policemen and he never came back alive,” Mariam cried, when reporters visited the home of the deceased, who had two wives and seven children.
Some residents of Ayobo said cases of raid by policemen were very common in the area and Mayor or Mayowa usually led the team.
Ismaila’s sister, Mrs. Abike Arowosafe, corroborated what Mariam said. She said, “He told us he begged them to release him. He said he had N50,000 on him and was begging the policemen to take it. A neighbour who was around when he was arrested even gave him N10,000 in addition.
“When the neighbours were begging Mayor, he said, there was nothing he could do about it but that he was sent by some senior police officers in the station.”
The other man who took part in the beating was identified simply as Waheed. The residents of the area said he is not a policeman, but a “freelance” whom Mayor took along whenever he was going on raids.
Those without money spent four days in police cell, Youths poised for a showdown
A man who was arrested the same day as the deceased but chose to be anonymous for fear of being molested by the police, said he had to part with N8,000 before he was released.
He said those who could not raise the money spent four days in police cell.
Because of the unusual circumstances in which Ismaila died, the hospital insisted on an autopsy, which has delayed his burial despite being a Muslim.
When the police station was visited on Thursday, the policemen locked the gate and refused to let anyone in. The policemen at the gate said they were acting on the order of the DPO.
The youth of Okeoko on Wednesday staged a protest against the killing.
“They impound our motorcycles and arrest us without any cause; just because they want to make some quick money. If they get away with this, then they should be ready for a showdown,” one of the youths, who pleaded anonymity, said.
When our correspondent visited LASUTH on Thursday, the deceased’s family members were seen waiting for the autopsy to be carried out.
An official of LASUTH, who did not want her name mentioned because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the “vertebrae 1-4” of the deceased appeared damaged in the X-ray taken at the private hospital from where he was transferred.
But the senior doctor in charge was not around to confirm this to our correspondent.
Statement by the police contradicted what really happened
However, the family said the statement sent to the hospital by the police contradicted what really happened.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, did not pick his calls. A text message sent to his phone was also not responded to as at press time.
However, the family has vowed to send a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, to ensure that the alleged killers of their breadwinner were prosecuted.
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Look at dis policemen, they can't even face Army not to talk of Boko Haram...it's only innocent pple u guys know how to brutalise. U guys are not gonna get away with dis i bet ya. Its getting too much.
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