Police release video supporting death of suspect in detention

Juliana Francis

Operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Tactical Squad (IGPSTS), located at Itele area of Ayobo, Lagos State, seemed to be supporting the death of a suspect in their custody.

This seems to be the take, following the Unit’s release of a six minutes video, showing five suspects, who stressed and tried to convince viewers that the deceased, Olaoluwa Bolarinwa, was an armed robber.

The video was released after Olaoluwa’s grieving wife, Blessing Bolarinwa and his elder brother, Adeshina Boyo, in a media chat with the New Telegraph Newspaper, urged the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, to investigate and fish out the policeman that killed Olaoluwa while he was in custody.

Olaoluwa was arrested on March 26th, 2020, in Ekotedo Iya Olobe, Ibadan, along with his nephew, Oreoluwa Abiona. While Oreoluwa was granted bail after parting with N10, 000, the policemen continued to detain Olaoluwa. Some weeks after Olaoluwa’s arrest, family members were shocked to hear that he was dead.

The suspect was arrested by policemen attached to the IGPSTS, located at Itele area of Ayobo, Lagos State. The Unit is headed by a woman Police, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Toyin Omosebi.

Distressed family members accused the operatives of torturing Olaoluwa to death. The accusation was made after the operatives repeatedly denied knowing Olaoluwa and then weeks later, changed their narration, insisting that he died three days after his arrest. The Unit also refused to disclose how the suspect died.

Boyo stated: “The commandant told us that Olaoluwa died third day after his arrest. She and her men had forgotten that two weeks after Olaoluwa’s arrest, they gave him phone to speak with his wife. We asked them to release his corpse to us, she said because Olaoluwa was an armed robber, they wouldn’t release his corpse. They declared our brother an armed robber without taking him to court!”

In the video, the five suspects told different stories of how Olaoluwa recruited them into robbery and went on operations with them.

One of the suspects, Olatunbosun Ojo, said: “I was arrested for bank robbery and breaking and entering. Olaolu used to give me money to buy guns for operations. The rest of the gang members are Saudi, Obi and Sheriff.”

Another suspect, Benjamin Anjorin, who claimed to be a friend of Olaoluwa, said: “After I returned from prison, Olaoluwa told me about 10 bags of rice in the shop of a politician at Mokola area of Ibadan, Oyo State. Four of us broke into the shop and carted away seven bags. Olaolu and Obi sold them for N70, 000, after which they gave me N10, 000. There was a second operation, where we broke into a boutique owned by an Igbo person. Olaolu and Obi sold the stolen clothes for N60, 000. I was given N10, 000. When Police arrested Olaolu, he mentioned my name and those of others. Police asked me about our operations without torturing me and I told them everything.”