The family of a car dealer in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, Olashile Oduga, has demanded justice after he was allegedly tortured to death by officers at the Ikota Police Post
The deceased’s elder sister, Abisola Bakare, who spoke on behalf of the family in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, said they learned of Oduga’s death on Wednesday after she contacted the manager of the estate where he lived in the Chevron area of Ajah.
She said, “It was my brother’s pregnant wife who called me on Wednesday afternoon, saying her husband’s line had been unreachable since Tuesday afternoon. So, I called the estate manager where he lived and asked him to check on him to find out why his phone wasn’t going through.
It was the estate manager who then informed us that some policemen from the Ikota Police Post had arrested him on Tuesday afternoon.”
She explained that the estate manager told her that Oduga had a misunderstanding with his neighbour, Stasia Nora, which escalated into a fight.
After the altercation, the woman went to the police post and brought officers to arrest Oduga.
Bakare said the estate manager visited the Ikota Police Post that same Tuesday after Oduga’s arrest, but the officers denied him access to see her brother.
“So, I followed the estate manager to the police post on Wednesday, along with my sisters. When we arrived, I mentioned my brother’s name and told them we were informed of his arrest and detention at ....
“But the officers on duty denied having any record of him. The estate manager confronted them, insisting that Oduga was present when their men took my brother away. It was at that moment that one of the officers called the Investigating Police Officer of ..., Modinat Alaka, who directed us to Ajah Police Station because the case had been transferred there,” Bakare narrated.
She explained that upon arriving at the station, she found several senior officers in one of the offices discussing the matter.
“The Divisional Police Officer of Ajah Police Station shouted at her, ordering her to speak before he lost his temper. It was then that she told me my brother was dead,” Bakare lamented
In disbelief, she asked how it happened, but Alaka claimed that when they brought Oduga into custody, he appeared very weak, so they rushed him to Epe General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“I asked if they had any video evidence showing him being taken to the hospital, but she said they had forgotten to take pictures. I demanded to see his body, and they told me it had been deposited at the Epe mortuary.
“The officers kept begging me, but I left the station in sorrow that Wednesday night,” she added.
Bakare said she couldn’t hold back the pain and drove straight to the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon at midnight to make an official complaint before returning home.