A commercial motorcyclist, popularly known as Okada rider, Abiodun Oladele, has died in police custody in Ogun State following alleged torture.
Oladele (39), father of three, was arrested on April 1, by the operatives of the Special Weapons Tactics (SWAT) team following a violence that broke out in Itori, Ewekoro LGA, when some youths went on rampage to protest the killing of a commercial motorcyclist.
It was learnt that a suspected smuggler who was being chased by operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) rammed into the motorcyclist, killing him on the spot.
This, it was further gathered, led to a pandemonium as youths at the scene of the accident went on rampage, setting property on fire.
The youths invaded a hotel where operatives of NCS usually lodged, destroyed property and burnt vehicles, a situation which affected traffic on the old Lagos-Abeokuta highway for almost an hour.
Spokesman of the police in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said 13 suspects were arrested in connection with the attack.
Our correspondent gathered that Oladele, alongside other suspects, was taken to the SWAT office at Magbon, Abeokuta, where he was tortured to death.
His elder brother, Omolekan Olugbenga, told City & Crime that family members had visited Magbon on April 4, to see the suspect but that they were denied access to him.
Olugbenga said when they visited the station for the second time on April 7, the SWAT Commander, Kalejaiye Olarewaju, told them that Oladele had died.
Olugbenga told our reporter that: “We were shocked. The next time I went there, the Area Commander inquired from me how many of us came from the family. I told him we were about eight, including a lawyer. He asked me to enter with one or two people.
“When we entered with my elder sister, he said, ‘The boy got ill, they took him to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), but we have lost him.’
“Then, he said we should make arrangements on how to conduct an autopsy so that we can carry the corpse. But I told him I won’t be able to carry the corpse because such a duty was beyond me.”
Olugbenga further said Oladele’s co-detainees who had earlier been released on bail revealed that that Oladele died from torture.
“When I returned to Itori, I saw other guys with whom my brother was arrested. They told me he did not fall sick. They said the operatives beat him, handcuffed him and left him in pain as he was bleeding from the nose. They said when the pain was too much they called the police but they failed to respond and that around 5am my brother fainted, the police later came and carried him away.”
When contacted, the police spokesman said, “I’m not sure something of such happened. But I will find out and get back to you.”
