By Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The family of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Mr. Johnson Onyilo, who committed suicide in Ibadan, Thursday accused men of the Oyo state Police Command of withholding his telephone, last note and mortuary card.
Onyilo, a 2018 Batch B Stream 1 corps member who until his death was serving in Ibadan North West Local Government area of the state, committed suicide last Friday.
The deceased whose place of primary assignment, (PPA) was ISON Dugbe, Ibadan, graduated from the department of Accounting at the University of Jos, Plateau state.
He hailed from Opilo village, Okpuku Local Government Area of Benue state and was living with his sister, Blessing.
His elder sister while speaking with newsmen on Thursday, accused Policemen from Orita Challenge Division in Ibadan, the state capital, of withholding the deceased’s telephone, the last note he wrote before his death and the mortuary card.
Blessing said she was surprised that the policemen in charge of the matter were yet to return the said items to the family, stating that the family had concluded plans to bury the deceased in Benue state tomorrow, alleging that the police said that they would not return the items to her because she was still a suspect.
According to her, “He will be buried on Friday in Benue state. Police officers at Orita Challenge Division took one or two things from me, but they are yet to return those things to the family.
“The Police took his phone and what he wrote down. Even, the card of the mortuary has not been released by the Policemen handling the matter at Orita Challenge Police station.
“We are from Opilo village in Okpuku Local government area. The Police said that I am still a suspect and they will not release those things to me.
“It is just the police issue that we have now, because we are planing to bury him tomorrow. They are yet to release the items to us, but we are planing to bury him tomorrow. Up till now they are yet to release the items though one of my brothers has gone to the police station today.”
But the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, in his reaction, said the delay in the release of the items may be due to the ongoing investigation into the matter, assuring that he would ask the DPO what is causing the delay.
He said, “Sometimes, it is due to investigation. May be they have one or two things they want to find out. They may have one or two things to know. I will ask the DPO of the area to know what caused the delay. I will call the DPO and find out.”
