Kwara: Father Of Late Poly Student Shot Dead By Policemen Breaks Silence

Muslem Abdulyekeen Ayinla, the father of the late Kwara State Polytechnic student, Abdulqoyyum Abdulyekeen Ishola, who was killed by the police last week, has broken his silence.

He narrated the last moment of his son’s tragic death in the hands of policemen in Ilorin.

The late student was killed on September 4, 2024 by the police at the GRA area of Ilorin metropolis.

In an interview with Daily Post on Thursday, Muslem Abdulyekeen, 43-year-old father of the late student, said he was with the Magaji Alagbon, Oke-Adini area of Ilorin metropolis, at about 3pm, when he received a phone call while he was discussing community issues with the Magaji, as the Vice-chairman of the community.

According to him, “My son’s mother, Ramat Abdulyekeen, called that she was on her way for a meeting at Oke-Adini, Sango-Kulende area of Ilorin metropolis and I returned to our house with the hope that she wanted to have a chat with me.

“So I later relaxed in the house before returning to the Magaji Alagbon’s house. After 3:00pm, I got a call from my brother, Erolalijana, asking me where I was.

“He asked me to come immediately, because Abdulqoyyum was involved in an accident.

“I became confused because I had no money on me and I rushed to the spot at Oke-Adini where the mother was holding a meeting.”

Muslem said he joined the mother of the deceased to the Oke-Adini junction but his brother, Erolalijana, could not wait for them again, as the ND 2 student, Abdulqoyyum, had lost too much blood, so he was rushed to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for medical attention.

“My wife and I joined another vehicle to the teaching hospital since we could not meet them at the Oke-Adini junction.

“When we got to the hospital, at the emergency ward, I was scared to enter the ward as the doctors on duty, did their best to revive my son with the aid of oxygen and other essentials, because, my son was shot on the right arm and it was deep, hence, he lost too much blood which claimed his life,” he added.

Muslem said good samaritans came to his rescue with donations which did not save his 21-year-old son, a student of Electronic Engineering of the state polytechnic in Ilorin.

“My son collected about four pints of blood and at about 2am, on Thursday, the following day after he was shot by the police, he gave up the ghost, despite the efforts of the doctors to save his life.

“As a Muslim, I did not want my son’s corpse to be taken to the morgue, but since we were asked to donate the four pints of blood used for him, we could not remove the corpse on Thursday, hence, we waited till the following day to retrieve the corpse for burial at the Muslim public cemetery,” he stated further.

Muslem disclosed that the students union government of the polytechnic moved from the cemetery on Thursday to the state police command headquarters, Ilorin, to meet the hierarchy of the police force to demand for justice.

“The DCP, Operations, however, appealed to me to calm the agitated students in a bid to douse the tension, as those outside the command were more than the population of students inside the command.

“They advised me to speak to the students and douse their anger to further save the situation,” he stated.

Daily Post reports that the students, who were allowed to register their grievances and anger, alleged that police operatives have been harassing and extorting innocent students in the state capital in recent times by illegally searching their iphones and laptops, suspecting them as Yahoo- Yahoo boys.

Muslem further disclosed that on the day of the bloody incident, the boy who was arrested alongside the late Abdulqoyyum, but escaped, vowed to come forward as a witness to identify the police operatives responsible for the tragic act.

The witness said his brother had earlier encountered a similar experience with the same police officers.

The witness’s testimony led to the identification and arrest of the three police officers connected to the incident and have been moved to Abuja, as discreet investigation continues on the matter.

Muslem, who is now left with five children, said, “this kind of tragic development is no longer my problem, but the problem of Nigeria as a whole.”

“Nigerians, view the tragic act as an injustice which must not be allowed or swept under the carpet without consequences,” he declared.