Family, Ondo Police Command, Go To War Over Death Of Detainee 

By Ayodele Oni

The sudden death of a man shortly after his release from police cell has set his family against the Ondo State Police Command.

It was gathered that the deceased was among some persons that were raided during police patrol in Ore, Odigbo local government area of the state.

He reportedly died a day after he was released from the police cell in Ore.

Unconfirmed report claims that the deceased was  tortured while in police cell before he was released.

A source said the deceased who hails from the Eastern part of the country and others were raided on Saturday night at Evergreen Hotel, Akinjagula.

He was later released on Tuesday on bail.

It was further gathered that the Police after, allegedly, torturing the deceased, realized that his health condition has been affected negatively, and immediately granted him bail at the sum of N5000 Naira.

The source also said, “Every other person raided alongside the deceased was granted bail with the sum of N20,000 which was paid through a PoS machine at the police station.”

The family of the deceased after securing his bail on Tuesday took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead after he complained of pains all over his body.

On hearing of the death of the deceased, the family took the corpse to the Police station on Wednesday morning to express thier grievances over his death.

It was also gathered that, the Police, however, shot sporadically into the air to scare them away in order not to cause another scenario at the station.

While giving its own side of the incident, the State Police Command through the spokesperson, Funmilayo Odunlami -Omisanya, stated that “On Monday 13th of March, 2023, the Police was informed that suspected political thugs were in town and lodged in different brothels within Ore and its environs.

“On the strength of this  information, Policemen attached to Ore division  embarked on a routine raid of black/flash points and brothels fingered to be where some of the miscreants were lodged.

“Suspects  arrested were  diligently screened  and released on bond the next day.

“However, on Wednesday,15th of March, 2023, one of the Managers operating a Brothel in the area called the DPO to inform him that some people brought a Lifeless Body to his office claiming he  died a day after he was released.

“These same set of people invaded the Police Divisional Headquarters of Ore that they will destroy and burn down the station  but they were dispersed by the men on duty.

“It is pertinent to state that Ondo State Police Command does not handle issues relating to Police Brutality / Incivility to the members of the Public with kid gloves as we are committed to upholding the primary  duty of the job.

“We urge the good people of the state to disregard this fake news as we  will continue to work tirelessly to build trust and foster positive relationship between the Police and the Public we serve.”