Police made my son commit suicide after losing  N7.7m, woman tells panel

By James Ogunnaike

Mother of a victim of police illegal arrest and detention, Mrs. Funmi Akinade has revealed how her son, Seyi Akinade lost N7.7 million to forex trade while in police illegal  detention which eventually led him to commit suicide.

According to Mrs. Akinade, a petitioner at the ongoing Judicial Panel of Investigation said her late son, Seyi Akinade lost more than seven million naira to forex trading on February 3, 2020 due to his illegal arrest and detention by police officers from Obada-Oko Police Station, Abeokuta who raided his hostel and locked him and 16 other students up all night without a known cause.

Mrs. Akinade, spoke while defending her petition before the Judicial Panel of Investigation set up by the Ogun State government to investigate complaints of victims of police brutality, human rights violations and extra judicial killings by security operatives within the State.

She revealed that after the huge loss incurred by her son, he became depressed and resorted to committing suicide by drinking a poisonous liquid substance confirmed by a medical doctor to be Snipper.

Recounting his experience, a witness and a friend of the deceased, Mr. Damilare Adejoro who was also among those arrested said, “on February 3, 2020, Inspector Babajide Adebusuyi and his three other colleagues raided and arrested all the 17 students staying inside Chocolate City Hostel at Camp, Abeokuta, detained and locked us all night inside the cell at the Station”.

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According to Adejoro, the officers did not tell us what our offence was but rather when we got to the station, we were locked up with other 52 inmates already in a small cell after we were asked to pay a sum of two million naira for bail which we could not afford to pay.

Adejoro added that while in the police custody, his late friend who was a forex trader severally told the officers that he had opened trading business online that would run into loss if not attended to, but they refused him access to his mobile phone, slapped and even made jest of him which eventually made him lose over seven million naira.

Adejoro added that before his friend committed suicide on April 22, 2020, he went on his Twitter page and wrote severally, “this is my story in case anyone is wondering why I did it” and on his last day on earth, he wrote “I guess it’s goodbye now…no one heard my cry for justice and this had to happen haha…bye world”.

Mr. Adejoro said, “I believe this panel would ensure justice and bring hope to the common man” while requesting that the parents of the deceased be compensated for the huge loss that led to the death of Mr. Seyi Akinade.

Speaking, a witness, Mr. Olaleye Adejare who was the landlord of the victim confirmed the incident revealing that the police officers eventually collected N120,000 before releasing the students without any just cause.

On his part, one of the respondents Inspector Babajide Adebusuyi said truly they arrested them all but it was because they got information that some were smoking Indian hemp in the house even though the deceased as well as his friend were not culpable.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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