» 70-Year-Old Man Dies After Torture In Detention «

The Nigeria Police (NPF) is the principal law
enforcement agency in Nigeria which is
established to combat crime and ensure
security of lives and property of the
citizenry. Experience over the years has
shown that the force has lived below
expectation. Some of the reasons explaining
this failure include corruption, delayed
justice, impartiality among others.
Moreover, The maxim that the police is
friends with the ordinary 'bloody' citizens
was once again rubbished when a 70-year-
old man identified as Gbenga Omolo, a
member of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers (NURTW), was allegedly
tortured to death while in detention in the
cells of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of
the Ondo State Police Command, and then
labelling the man an armed robber.
According to reports, Omolo suffered
untold and dehumanizing beatings in the
hands of the police officers for several
hours at the Oda Road SARS office and died
in their custody and the operatives later
dumped his corpse in the mortuary of the
State Specialist Hospital, Akure.
Members of his union made the death of
Omolo known during a protest they staged
to decry the murder of one of their own.
According to a member of the union,
Omolo was not arrested for any robbery
related offence and wondered why the old
man should be detained at the SARS office
and why he should even be tortured in the
first place.
It was gathered that Omolo got into trouble
when he challenged a police officer in mufti
for obstructing the road with his vehicle.
The report has it that on Thursday, May 28,
there was a traffic hold-up at the popular
Arakale Road, Akure, the state capital, and
the late Omolo who was coming through
the road, discovered that it was a car that
obstructed the road and he was said to
have questioned the driver of the vehicle,
not knowing that he was a police officer.
This effrontery seemed to anger the officer
as eyewitnesses report that he came down
from his car and attacked the elderly man,
beating and pummelling him in the process.
The action incensed some sympathizers
who went to the man's rescue and
mediated on his behalf.
But the officer was not palliated as he
mobilized his colleagues the following day
and they stormed the area and started
arresting anyone in sight and on inquiring
about the 'insolent' old man, the heavily
armed SARS operatives were taken to
Omolo and he was arrested and taken to
their station where he was promptly
dumped in the cell.
A source said that the sum of N150,000
was demanded for his and his union
members rallied and raised the sum of
N100,000 to go and bail the man four days
later only to realise that he had died in police
custody.