Banker buried as controversy surrounds autopsy

| credits: Family

Ecobank Nigeria Plc worker, Babatunde Oke, who died in the police custody, has been buried.

He was laid to rest in his hometown in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State on Saturday afternoon as the family vowed to unravel the cause of his death.

PUNCH Metro had reported on February 24, 2014 that Babatunde died after being detained at the Falomo Police Division over allegation of N1.2m theft.

His employers had alleged that while he was the head teller at the bank’s Ladipo branch, Babatunde had stolen the sum from the Automated Teller Machine.

He was consequently locked up, pending when he would pay back the money.

While his relatives were reportedly making arrangement for his bail, he was said to have ordered for a bottle of soft drink which led to his death.

The deceased’s widow, Ebun, had petitioned the National Assembly to investigate the cause of her husband’s death, adding that Babatunde could not have taken soft drink because he did not like it.

The family lawyer, Segun Akinloye, of Adeyinka Adetosoye and Co, told our correspondent on Sunday that the corpse of the deceased was released to the family on Saturday for burial.

He said relatives and colleagues of the late banker trooped out to pay him their last respect when his remains were interred around 2pm on Saturday.

He said, “The body of Babatunde Oke departed the mortuary through a convoy organised by his secondary school mates.

“It left Lagos Island Mortuary at about 9.30am and arrived at Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State around 2pm. The body was eventually laid to rest amidst wails, tears and lamentations of town folks, families and loved ones, who urged us to obtain justice for Babatunde Oke.”

Akinloye told our correspondent that samples had been taken from the deceased before his burial, adding that some of the samples had been sent abroad for a comprehensive autopsy test.

He said the family was worried about the delay in the release of the result.

A letter addressed to the Chief Pathologist, Department of Pathology, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, and dated March 13, 2014, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, expressed the anxiety of the family over the delay in the result of the autopsy.

“We hereby request a comprehensive detail on what has been going on so far. And also to know what is the cause in the delay of the result if the samples were actually taken,” the letter reads in part.

PUNCH