Police officers attached to the Oyo State Special Anti-Robbery Squad have allegedly tortured a 50-year-old photographer to death at their Dugbe Headquarters. The PUNCH learnt that the deceased, whose name was simply given as Foto, was arrested by the SARS personnel on Friday, April 21, 2017, after raiding a spot for smoking Indian hemp. He […]
Police officers attached to the Oyo State Special Anti-Robbery Squad have allegedly tortured a 50-year-old photographer to death at their Dugbe Headquarters.
The PUNCH learnt that the deceased, whose name was simply given as Foto, was arrested by the SARS personnel on Friday, April 21, 2017, after raiding a spot for smoking Indian hemp.
He was arrested alongside four others.
The Head of News at Fresh 105.9 FM, Ibadan, Mr. Samson Akindele, who first posted the incident on his Facebook page, wrote that Foto and those arrested with him were tortured daily with ‘what they claimed looked like hockey sticks and other iron materials’.
The SARS were also said to have demanded N30, 000 as bail, but the deceased could not make any telephone call to his family or friends because the operatives had seized his phone.
However, the deceased was eventually released to a man who brought him to his house after paying N3,500.
Akindele wrote, “According to the man, the police reduced the bail money to 5,000 Naira but when he could not raise up to that, they hurriedly released the deceased to him.
“But on getting home, as the man was being helped to alight from the motorcycle (Okada) that brought him home, he gave up the ghost just at the front yard of the house.
“It is now believed that this man died from the torture due to internal bleeding.”
Akindele told The PUNCH that the result of an autopsy on Foto’s corpse would be released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, family members have reported the matter at Orita Police Division and have contacted pathologists to examine the body to determine the real cause of his death.
Police are yet to react to the incident.
Tanwa Ashiru
Tanwa Ashiru is a U.S Airforce veteran, and the CEO of Bulwark Intelligence Solutions. She holds an M.A in Intelligence Studies from American Military University (AMU) and is a Fellow of the Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (AERMP).
Tanwa has provided services for various public and private sector organizations including: NATO, Nigerian DIA, U.S Army Africa Forces (USARAF), Total E&P, IBM Nigeria, U.S Embassy Abuja and many more.
She has featured in several international media publications including: BBC World, Arise News, CNBC Africa, The Guardian Nigeria, Channels Television, Financial Times, and many more.