Nigerian Police Killed Our Son In Cell, Told Us He Committed Suicide On His Knees When We Pointed Out Cell Ceiling Is Too Low –Family Of Late Kwara Man

The family of Mr Jimoh Abdulquadri has narrated how he was allegedly killed by the Nigeria Police Force following his arrest over a debt of N220,000.

Abdulquadri was allegedly beaten to death by police officers in Kwara State.

SaharaReporters learnt that Abdulquadri was brought in for questioning regarding an alleged case of obtaining N220,000 under false pretences.

Confirming the incident in a statement released on Sunday by the command spokesperson, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, the command said it had launched an investigation into the incident to ascertain the cause of Abdulquadri’s death.

Speaking to newsmen in a video seen by SaharaReporters on TikTok, the Abdulquadri’s mother said there are indications that her son was killed for a reason the police are not willing to disclose.

She said her son was probably killed to prevent him from divulging sensitive information he knew about the police. The grieving mother alleged that Abdulquadri was killed less than 20 minutes after his arrest by the police.

She said: “They (the police) killed my son unjustly. He was not a criminal; he neither drank nor smoked. He did not have any crime record. The fact that they came to arrest and kill him because of N220,000 debt surprised us.

“The complainant also owed him some money. Some of his money is still with the complainant. He was the son that provided for me a lot and they killed him. And nobody is willing to help us. I have been cheated. He did not do anything to warrant his arrest let alone death.

“Immediately after his arrest, we (the family) quickly started looking for money. But maybe there is something else involved in the case that the police are not disclosing to us.

“I am saying this because they killed him immediately after he was taken to their cell. They did not let him spend up to 20 minutes in detention before they killed him. He was killed immediately.”

Abdulquadri’s brother, who identified himself as Jimoh Ismail, said he saw traces of blood at the police station where he was detained.

He said injuries seen on his body provide enough evidence that his brother was murdered by the police.

He said: “A policeman who introduced himself as Deputy Commissioner of Police said he used a piece of cloth to strangle himself. The police claimed he tore his clothes and used it to strangle himself.

“We asked them to let us inspect the cell and we realised that the cell ceiling is low while my brother was tall. And the police said he kneeled to commit suicide. They also claimed that he hanged himself while on his knees. Those claims are illogical. Well, we said we had heard and we requested to see the corpse to confirm those claims.

“At the station, under the bench that we sat, we could see blood. I have video evidence to prove that. When we saw his corpse, we noticed that his nose was broken and his face had a lot of bruises, indicating severe torture.

“We asked why he had the injuries on his face if truly he committed suicide by hanging as they (the police) claimed. At that spot, one of our brothers told the police the truth to let them realise they were lying to us. We told them that by merely looking at the corpse, it was evident that he did not commit suicide. He was killed after severe beating by the police. We told them that they killed him.”

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