Posted by By MARYAM AGBOOLA, Jos on
For the families of Ahmed Sadiq Mohammed and Am.inu Musa Maitala, these are trying times. They are calling on the Plateau State Police Command to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the two young men who the police killed after an accident in the guise that they were robbers.
For the families of Ahmed Sadiq Mohammed and Aminu Musa Maitala, these are trying times. They are calling on the Plateau State Police Command to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the two young men who the police killed after an accident in the guise that they were robbers.
Daily Sun gathered that last month, at about 10.30 am, the two boys, 21, and 23, were driving a car in the Abattoir area of Jos when their vehicle crashed into a building at Namua junction.
The boys were discovered to be unconscious after the incident and passers-by and those within the vicinity tried to get them out of the car to take them to the hospital. It was at that point that a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) got to the scene.
He allegedly stopped the boys from being taken to the hospital, saying they were armed robbers. He then shot them, blowing up Aminu's chest and shooting Ahmed by the side, just below the rib bones.
Corroborating this story, father of Ahmed Sadiq Mohammed and the Onu Igala of Jos, (leader of Igala community in Jos), Alhaji Saeed Sadiq Mohammed, who is also a retired soldier, told Daily Sun that on the day of the incident, he travelled to Abuja but on receiving a call that his son had been shot, he rushed back immediately.
'On my return, I rushed to Anglo Jos Police Station where I was told his body was lying. I could not find it there. From there, I went to other police stations to check until I was directed to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH). On getting there, I found the dead body of my son and his friend outside the mortuary, lying on the floor.
When I asked why they were left outside, I was told that inside the mortuary was filled up. What I was able to gather from the mortuary attendant was that the police said they were involved in an accident at Namua Junction from where they were picked up and brought to the hospital. I went to the police headquarters to see the commissioner but was told he was at a meeting.
'My son was a driver to one David Sule, living at Rayfield, Jos. I rushed to see him and asked him what happened to my son and he told me that one of his friends was fighting in the neighbourhood and all entreaties to stop them proved abortive and so he now sent Ahmed to Anglo Jos police station to bring a policeman. It was on their way that they had an accident," he said.
According to him, the boy ran into a house when he was trying to avoid a commercial bike rider making a 'U" turn on the main road. Unfortunately, he lost control and ran into the house.
'The information I gathered was that the boys were unconscious after the accident and people around tried to get them out of the vehicle and get help to take them to the hospital. It was in that process that a police vehicle arrived and the occupants also joined hands to get the boys into their vehicle in order to take them to the hospital.
'It was at that point that the DPO arrived in his Mercedes car and stopped the boys from being moved into the vehicle. He ordered one of the sergeants to shoot the boys, saying:'Those are the type of boys, that are armed robbers". But the sergeant refused to shoot insisting that it was just an accident. So, the DPO collected the gun and shot at them," he alleged.
Mohammed, who said he worked at both the army and police mechanical workshops and had taught his son to drive at the age of 12, said the painful aspect of it was that his son, an ex- student of Government College, Jos, who was to proceed to Nasarawa State University to begin a degree course, was accused of being an armed robber together with his friend.
He said when the vehicle was searched by the people in the vicinity, what was discovered was a gallon of petrol and a piece of cake. He said the landlord of the house which the boys crashed into, one Victor, had made a statement to the police, stating that the boys were not robbers.
He said from the information he gathered, the DPO was ordered to be detained the day after the incident (Wednesday) but had been threatening him (Alhaji Sadiq) on the phone. 'He called me on the phone, asking me if I thought I could fight the government," said Alhaji Mohammed.
The police are, however, insisting that the boys were armed robbers. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Dominic Ionumbe, on the day of the incident, there was a robbery around Rayfield and the boys, four in number, were in the vehicle, which was speeding towards the junction.
The police flagged them down, but they refused to stop until they ran into the house. Immediately the incident happened, the occupants of the back seat of the car fled. It was while the police were taking the remaining two to the hospital that they died on the way. When asked what was responsible for the open wound on the chest and the belly of the victims, he said the police were still investigating.
According to him, when the vehicle was searched by the police, they found a locally made pistol, a cutlass, a knife and a rope.
He, however, assured that the police would get to the root of the incident. He insisted that the Police Commissioner, Ibiyinka Kayode would not condone any act of lawlessness from anyone, including his men.
The victim's father equally said the police commissioner had promised to thoroughly investigate the matter. He, however, lamented that the DPO had been released while his son's boss, who is the owner of the car that crashed into the building, is being detained by the police.
Describing his son as quiet and brilliant, he said the boy was planning to finally resign as a driver on Friday in order to travel to Nasarawa State on Sunday to resume school. It was that Friday that he was buried," he said tearfully.