FATHER of a 25-year-old Bala Babangida, who was allegedly tortured to death by the police at the Maina Maji police outpost in Alkeleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Alhaji Bala Adamu, is seeking a compensation of N11million from the police for the death of his son.
Adamu, from Yashi village in Duguri district of Alkaleri, headquarters of Alkaleri Local Government Area of the state, who was in company of the state officer of the Bauchi State office of the Legal Aid Council, Muhammad Hanbal Zubair, told newsmen in Bauchi that the late Babangida was allegedly tortured to death while in police detention, alleging that his son was beaten severely by one Musa Abdul.
The 65-year-old Adamu stated that the police arrested his son on July 23, 2008, following a complaint made against him to the police by Dan Bauchi, who alleged that the late Babangida lied against him.
“Dan Bauchi came to arrest my son with one policeman called Musa Abdul and detained him at the police station. The village head of Yashi, Ibrahim Saleh, went to the police station to secure his bail, but the police refused to grant him bail, insisting that they would only grant bail to the father,” the aggrieved father stated.
“When I returned from the farm and was told what happened, I went to the police station. When they brought my son out, he was in a very bad shape. His younger brother had to carry him and we went home.”
He added the deceased explained to him (father) that Musa Abdul, the policeman tortured him, beating him repeatedly in the cell, saying that on seeing that his son was in a very bad condition, he went to the police station the next day to ask for an officer to accompany him to take his son to the hospital, but they refused.
Adamu stated that it took the intervention of a lawyer, who stood as a guarantor before his son was admitted at the then Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, now the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), where his son died.
He lamented that having waited for for the police to do the right thing, he was forced to write a letter of complaint to the Bauchi State Sharia Commission to look into his grievances, adding that he later reported the matter to the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria after nothing was done on the issue for over one year.
In a related development, two policemen attached to the Ekiti State command, Mr Ameh Richard and Akinyede Olaiya, have been sentenced to death by an Ado Ekiti High Court for killing two persons in Omuo, Ekiti East Local Government Area of the state.
The policemen were convicted for killing Kehinde Faluyi and Michael Ipinlaye, two members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over a fight in the community on the defacement of campaign posters in Omuo.
Justice Abiodun Adesodun on Monday in his judgement held that committed the murder of Faluyi and Ipinlaye on March 23, 2011 and ruled that the policemen should die by hanging.
Justice Adesodun held that “the prosecution counsels have proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and the accused persons are hereby sentenced to death by hanging,” pointing out that there were sharp contradictions in the evidence of the accused persons which he said vitiated their evidence.
The judge was of the opinion that the evidence supplied by the prosecution counsels, Mr Femi Onipede and Mr Omope Oluwanitemi, were overwhelming and convincing enough for him to grant their reliefs.
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