Family Of Inspector Who Died In Cell Laments Police Silence

Taiye Atobiloye

The family of Taiye Atobiloye, a police inspector, who died after being detained at the ‘D’ Division of the Kogi State Police Command, has cried out, The PUNCH reports.

They decried the silence of the police authorities on the outcome of investigation into the incident.

City Round had reported how Taiye, who was attached to the Oke Onigbin Police Division, Kwara State, was posted to the Zone 8 Police Command, Lokoja, Kogi State, on special duty.

However, the policeman declined the posting after a disagreement at the division that another inspector was originally meant for the assignment.

After attempts made by the inspector to reverse the deployment failed, he reported at the zonal headquarters for the assignment but was detained for absence from work without permission.

Taiye’s family alleged that he died in the cell after being tortured.

The family’s lawyer, A.G. Ademola-Bank, had demanded a thorough investigation into the cause of the inspector’s death, along with a public apology, and immediate payments of all the deceased’s entitlement and funding of his burial.

The elder brother of the deceased, Joshua Atobiloye, told City Round that no official communication had been received from the police since the incident happened.

He said, “Since the incident, we have been to the Federal Medical Centre at Lokoja to identify his body and an autopsy has been conducted to unravel the cause of his death. Up till now, there has been no response from the police at Lokoja.

“No action has been taken on the issue; they didn’t call us or write to us or communicate in any way with us. The autopsy result revealed that they tortured and beat him seriously. We have already written a petition to the Nigeria Police Force at Abuja, but they have not responded till now.

“Our family counsel met with the Commissioner of Police on Tuesday regarding our demands and he asked us to see the IG in Abuja. We don’t want this case to be covered up and the perpetrators to go scot-free. We want justice for Taiye.”

Also speaking with our correspondent, Ademola-Bank said the Investigating Police Officer informed the family that the report of the investigation had been forwarded to the Kogi State police commissioner.

“About two weeks ago when Taiye’s family notified me about the burial of the deceased, I called the IPO to ask about the investigation and why the silence from them, and he said they were done with their investigation and had forwarded their report to the CP of Kogi State.

“When we met with the Kwara State CP, they seemed to paint a picture of Taiye as a lazy officer and a drunk and I said if this was true and he was absent from work for two days, should death be the penalty for his offence? This was someone who served the Force for 27 years,” he added.

Earlier, the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, had stated that the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, ordered an investigation into Taiye’s death, assuring the family that justice would be served.

Meanwhile, in an audio recording forwarded to our correspondent by Taiye’s family, the DPO of the ‘D’ Division of the Kogi State Police Command, Lokoja, Adigun Salami, said when Taiye was brought to the cell, he (Salami) made efforts to release him.

“I did what I had to do because I can also sleep and not wake up. When he was brought to the cell that day and they said the order came from the provost, I called him (provost) and told him I would not accept this suspect because we had a sergeant who had been earlier detained but damaged our office.

“I even feigned an excuse that the door of the cell was not good, but he insisted that we detain him. He is my superior and I couldn’t argue with him,” he said in the audio.