Members of the Erubu-Asunnara Community, Balogun Fulani Ward I of Ilorin South LGA of Kwara have demanded justice from the Nigeria Police Force following the death of their son, Jimoh Tunji Abdulqodir in police detention.
The chairman of the Erubu-Asunnara community, Alh. Ibrahim O. Mujeeb, in a petition, demanded an explanation from the Kwara State Police Command and justice for the deceased.
Mujeeb said: “With sadness and heartbreaking, we the entire members of the Erubu-Asunnara Community, Balogun Fulani Ward I of Ilorin South LGA of Kwara are deeply in sorrow and grief over the death of one of our brothers and members of the community, Jimoh Tunji AbdulQodir, who was believed to have been killed inside police net, at the headquarters of the Nigeria Police, Kwara State Command.”
Mujeeb narrated that on the day of the unfortunate incident, Friday, 20th December 2024, Tunji was hale and healthy.
He recounted: “He was seen in front of his family compound washing his clothes, and that of his mother. “He joked with many people as he’s known to be more jovial, gentle and loved by people in the community.
“Tunji was very well known for his hard work, he went into farming and animal husbandry business until recently when he was employed at one popular poultry farm in Offa.
“Tunji was said to have owed one Mr Peter who worked with him as a poultry worker, a sum of Two Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira Only (₦220,000), and had since been threatening to kill him if he didn’t pay before Christmas.
“As a result of the threat, Tunji informed some members of the family and friends about the incident which made him stay away from work for days. But on this day, after he finished washing the clothes, he relaxed at a public assembly, sat with friends and families and later bathed, until he received a phone. The caller asked him to meet up at the frontage of Balogun Fulani Compound, not more than 5 poles from his home and told those he sat with.
“Surprisingly, one of the elderly women in the neighbourhood received a distress call that he had been arrested. It was the woman who related the information to Tunji’s mother. Afterwards, the family made several efforts to see him at the police headquarters, but they were denied. All efforts to meet Mr. Gabriel, whom Tunji was owing were also to no avail. At about 7:pm on the same day, a call was received from the Police that, the family should come and bail him after it was denied on the excuse that the complainant had travelled to Ibadan, but they should come along with money which the family are making efforts to get.
“At 9:pm, another call was put to the family, requesting the family to come to the hospital because of Tunji. The family members went there, only for them to be told about 2:am on Saturday that Tunji had passed away. Shocked by the development, some family members and members of the community visited the Nigeria Police Headquarters, Kwara Command and the unfortunate incident was confirmed by the claims that, he killed himself by hanging at the small cell. This is bizarre and unacceptable.
“The cell was visited and obviously, there was no way anybody could have committed suicide with the way the cell was constructed. Besides, there was no rope to suggest that and the cell was not spacious enough to engage in such. Tunji was a tall person, who could not have stood straight inside the cell.”
Similarly, the family asked for his corpse and was told it had been deposited at a mortuary without the family’s knowledge. On the same day, immediately after the visit to Police Headquarters, the family visited the mortuary and the lifeless body of Tunji was confirmed.
Mujeeb said Tunji was a 35-year-old man, with children and a struggling man, assisting the family and also known for his generosity and kindness.
He added: “We therefore appeal to members of the press and the general public to assist us in demand for justice. We call on the Kwara State Governor, HE. Mall. AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, CON, Members of the National Assembly and the State Legislators, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Human rights groups, and other Civil Society Organisations to come to our aid.
“Gentlemen of the press, with this, we ask the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, and the Kwara State Commissioner of Police, to as a matter of urgency, launch investigations into the incident and come up with clean findings by bringing the perpetrators of this heinous act and killing of an innocent soul to justice.”
