EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian Police Pay N1Million To Family Of 14-Year-Old Boy Recklessly Killed By Van In Delta, Make Mother Sign Affidavit Waiving Legal Action

A family member of 14-year-old Wisdom Chukwudi, who was tragically killed by a police van in Okuokoko, Delta State, has disclosed that the Nigerian police paid the family N1 million for the boy’s burial and urged them to swear an affidavit pledging not to pursue legal action against the officers involved.

The fatal incident occurred on Monday, June 16, along the Okuokoko axis of the East-West Road.

Eyewitnesses said the teenager was standing off the road when a police Hilux van, reportedly driven recklessly, veered off the highway and crushed him against an electric pole.

Reports indicated that the vehicle was driven by a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) attached to the Bayelsa State Police Command, who lost control before the accident.

The grieving relative, with the support of Delta-based activist Kelvin Ejumudo, expressed frustration over the lack of response from the police, noting that no officer or representative of the force had reached out to the family since the incident.

The family source, while speaking with SaharaReporters on Monday, noted that they were given the boy’s remains on Friday, June 27, and he was buried on Monday, June 30.

“They gave the family N1 million to cover burial expenses. His mother swore an affidavit that the family would not pursue the case in court,” the source said.

This revelation came to light in a document titled ‘Affidavit as to No Legal Intention,’ sworn to by Jennifer Otono, the mother of the deceased boy, before the High Court of Justice, Delta State Judiciary, on June 30, 2025.

The document, seen by reporters, confirms that Otono, the grieving mother, formally declared that she and her family had “resolved to settle the matter amicably” and held “no legal intention against the suspect or anyone involved in the accident.”

According to the affidavit, Wisdom Chukwudi died on June 16, 2025, after a police Hilux van attached to the Delta State Police Command veered off the East-West Road at Okuokoko and crushed the teenager against an electric pole.

The document partly read: “I, JENNIFER OTONO, FEMALE, ADULT, CHRISTIAN, NIGERIAN citizen of OKUOKOKO BESIDE CRUNCHIES FAST FOOD, DELTA STATE OF NIGERIA, do hereby make oath and declare as follows:

"That I am the above-named deponent whose passport photograph is attached herein.

"That late WISDOM CHUKWUDI (M), aged 14 years, was my son.

"That on the 16th day of June, 2025, the said WISDOM CHUKWUDI was involved in a fatal accident at Okuokoko, at the Shemoh Filling Station, Delta State of Nigeria, involving a police vehicle driven by the Bayelsa Police (Special Anti-Vice/Sea Piracy Squad, Bayelsa State).

"That the incident was reported at Ebrumede Police Station, Effurun, Delta State.

"That my family and I have resolved to settle this matter amicably with the suspect and that we have no legal intention against the suspect or anyone involved in this accident.

"That I depose to this affidavit to state that I have no legal intention against anyone involved in this accident.

"That I depose to this affidavit in good faith, for record purposes, for the information of the Nigerian Police, any authority it may concern, and the general public to please take note.”

"That I make this solemn declaration in good faith, conscientiously believing it to be true and correct, and in accordance with the Oath Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2006,” it added.