Bauchi Police Torture Man, 33, to Death

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

A team of police operatives attached to the Yelwa Division and some vigilantes has allegedly tortured a 33-year-old man, Dauda Danladi to death in Bauchi State.

But the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abiodun Sylvester Alabi has ordered an investigation to ascertain the actual circumstances surrounding the death of the 33-year-old man.

THISDAY learnt Danladi was arrested in front of his shop located in Yelwa Kagadama, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis at about 9pm on Thursday and was taken to the Yelwa Division.

At the police division, according to different eyewitnesses, Danladi was allegedly tortured to death.
An eyewitness, Sheba Babangida, told THISDAY that when the police and the vigilante came, they started arresting people from the snooker spot belonging to the deceased.

She said: “We were doing our business. We even chatted with him. He went into his shop and later came out. Some officers came and started arresting youths in the area.

“When they arrested him in front of his shop, we pleaded with them to release him but they refused and forcefully took him into the car they came with. That was around 9pm.

“The next day, I could not go to the station because I was not feeling too well. But someone told me that the man that was arrested last night is dead. I also confirmed from one man selling meat close to where our shop is and he said it was true.”

She added that as soon as she heard it, she looked for his house and went there and confirmed that it was true.
Another eyewitness, Liatu Nuhu, also said security operatives came in their vehicle at about 9:00 p.m and arrested some persons in the area including the deceased.

When they arrested the deceased, according to the eyewitness, we tried to prevail on them to release him. But they turned down our pleading.

Nuhu said: “I was doing my business when, suddenly, the police and some vigilante came, more than 10 of them and started arresting people.
The DPO came down from the vehicle and directed them, “arrest him!” “Arrest him!”

“They arrested the boys playing snooker and the deceased who was standing in front of his shop. We kept telling the police operatives not to arrest him, we told them that he was our neighbour here and that we know him to be someone of good character. They arrested him and took him away.

“On Friday, we went to the police station. I later left. At 10.15 .am, when I returned, I saw the wife of the deceased crying. I asked her what happened, she told me that her husband had died.”

The immediate younger sister of the deceased, Dorathy Danladi, said her sister in-law called her Thursday night to inform her that her husband had been arrested.

She said her mother and her sister in-law went to the police station in the morning to see him, but she later received a phone call that the deceased had fainted and was in the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi state Police Command has denied the allegation that its men tortured the man to death.

In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Ahmad Wakil, the command said the victim did not die in police custody as widely speculated by some mischievous persons who want to mislead the public for reasons best known to them.

The statement said: “Sequel to recent directives by the Commissioner of Police that officers and men of the Command should sustain a constant clampdown on criminals in various black spots and flashpoints in the state in order to stem the tide of armed robbery, cultism and other nefarious activities in the state, the command has so far carried out series of raids through actionable intelligence.

“Consequently, on Thursday at about 10:30pm, police patrol team raided a suspected criminal hideout at Yelwa Tsakani and arrested two suspects;

Solomon Gabriel aged 20 years and Desmond Ogah aged 19 years both of Yelwa Kagadama.

“The suspects were in possession of a locally fabricated revolver pistol, with one live ammunition which they both confessed to own voluntarily and were planning to embark on a robbery operation that very night before their arrest.

“During the course of the operation, the team equally received a distress call about a person who had slumped and was gasping for breath,” the command said in a statement.

The statement added that the police rushed to the scene and met the victim who was later identified as Dauda ‘m’ surname yet unknown laying unconscious and reasonably suspected to have an asthmatic attack and was quickly evacuated by the patrol team to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) for medical attention where he was unfortunately certified dead.

“For the avoidance of doubt, according to the statement, the command reiterates that the victim did not die in police custody as widely speculated by some mischievous persons who want to mislead the public for reasons best known to them,” the statement added.

The statement, however, said the police commissioner “has ordered a discreet investigation including autopsy to ascertain the actual circumstances surrounding the incident after which the outcome would be made public.

The command, thus, appealed for calm and commiserated with the family of the victim, assuring the public of its commitment to the fight against criminality in accordance with internationally acceptable best practices.