Confusion gripped officials at the Man Centre Police Division, Ikeja, Lagos State, when a 24-year-old man Gabriel Faleye, died in their custody a few hours after he was arrested at a nightclub on Oba Akran Road.
Faleye’s family members stormed the police station after the news got to them and accused the police of torturing their son until he passed out and died moments afterwards.
However, the state police public relations officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, refuted the claims by the family and stated that Faleye was attacked by a mob when he tried to rob in the area.
Badmos added that the rushed the deceased to a hospital where he later died, although the family members insisted that it was false.
According to Punch, Faleye who was seeking admission to a university, had gone to the club, identified as Roya, with his friends on Sunday, May 15, 2016 when a fight broke out between them and another group around 2am on Monday, May 16, 2016.
One of the clubbers who was reportedly drunk urinated on Faleye who was in the company of his friends and a fight subsequently ensued.
An aggressive clubber was said to have entered his car and ran over Faleye who sustained injuries.
The owner of the hotel quickly called the Man Centre Police Division and some officials were deployed to the scene.
They arrested the deceased and one of his friends, Ibrahim Musaka, on the ground that they allegedly robbed in the area.
Friends to the deceased told the police officials that he (Faleye) needed some medical attention following the injuries he sustained, but the officials allegedly turned deaf ears.
The father of the deceased, Ibrahim Faleye, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, and lives in Oke Ira, Ogba, Lagos State, told Punch that he was only told on the telephone that his son had an accident.
He said, “Gabriel was staying with his mother in Ikeja. He usually went to nightclubs once in a while. He was seeking admission to the University of Lagos.
“This morning, I was called by my wife’s younger sister that Gabriel had an accident and the police took him to a cell. I was later told he had died. The police said they wanted to see me urgently at the station. I was shocked when I was told that he had died.”
Meanwhile, the family lawyer, Alex Okpako, said the police had denied the family members access to the corpse.
He said: “This incident happened when Gabriel and his friends were about leaving the club around 2.30am to come home. The other group is suspected to be Yahoo boys (scammers). They were drunk and one of them urinated on the deceased. They wanted to fight, but they were immediately separated. Later, the boy brought a car and deliberately rammed into Gabriel by the roadside.
“When the police came, Gabriel’s friends begged them to take him to a hospital because he had been injured. The police refused. The Yahoo boys were later released when they bribed the policemen.
“The policemen beat up Gabriel inside the van. He was not given urgent medical attention. They said he was pretending. He died around 5am in their cell. We want justice done in this matter.”
The police spokesperson said: “The suspects were earlier attacked by a mob while they tried to rob their victim. During preliminary interrogation, Gabriel complained of pains and he was rushed to a hospital where he was later confirmed dead. There is no reason to torture the deceased.”
Badmos further disclosed that the case had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigations, Yaba for further investigations.
