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Outrage as three policemen beat varsity student to death 

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Three police officers have allegedly beaten a Kwara State University (KWASU) student to death at Tanke Bridge in Ilorin, Kwara State.

SaharaReporters gathered that the incident occurred when the victim got off a motorcycle and was approached by the three officers from the Ganmo Division, who then dragged him to the ground.

In September, SaharaReporters had reported that a trigger-happy police officer reportedly shot dead another student of Kwara State Polytechnic, identified as Ishola Abdulqoyum, along Panat Road, a link between Sango and ShopRite in Kwara State.

An eyewitness told SaharaReporters on Friday that the victim had arrived by bike to retrieve N1000 he had already transferred to a Point of Sale (POS) operator.

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He intended to give the money to the motorcycle rider who brought him.

“I was with him,” the witness said. “As soon as he collected the money, the officers came out of a tricycle and dragged him down. The deceased kept asking what offence he had committed, but they didn’t let him speak.”

The eyewitness further stated that the victim pleaded, saying he was asthmatic, but the officers ignored him.

The witness said he confronted the officers, questioning why they were assaulting the student. When asked what offence the victim had committed, the officers claimed they had come from Lagos on information about the victim.

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“We asked if they were indeed tracking him from Lagos, they should call the headquarters or a divisional station to send a vehicle. They couldn’t give us a clear answer and instead tried to find a tricycle to transport him.”

“It got to a stage where I had to confront them. One of the officers tried to cock his gun. I told him to shoot if they really thought they would get out of there freely, and another officer was saying, ‘Don’t shoot.’ ”

The eyewitness told SaharaReporters that he felt distressed watching how the officers beat and mistreated the victim.

He said the deceased was a gentle and friendly person who frequently came to buy meat from him.

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The victim’s friend is a Point-of-Sale operator, and the deceased often visited to play with his friend before leaving.

According to the eyewitness, the victim didn’t quarrel with anyone.

“They were using their guns to hit him on his head, kicking him and handcuffing him. This is when he started to weaken. The deceased drank six or seven bottles of water here,” the eyewitness stated.

He said he told one of the officers that the deceased was an asthmatic patient and shouldn’t be treated so cruelly, but the officer showed no remorse.

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“A woman selling groundnuts also intervened, warning them that the deceased was too weak, but they ignored her. One of the officers even said, ‘Let him die. We don’t care.’”

The eyewitness questioned why people entrusted with protecting citizens’ lives would be the ones killing people.

According to him, “The guy truly suffered before he died. One of our people followed the officers as others were insisting they take him to a hospital. The officers told him that if anyone asked what happened, he should say he knew nothing.”

“On their way, instead of going directly to the police station in Ganmo, they diverted. Before they even reached the station, the victim had died.”

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He urged Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the state police commissioner to investigate the incident and arrest the three officers involved.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, another eyewitness mentioned that when the officers tried to forcefully take the deceased away, people stood their ground, insisting he needed medical help.

The eyewitness added that the victim kept asking for water because he was very weak. They gave him some water, but when he lost strength due to the beating, they urged the officers to take him to a hospital.

A frozen food seller who witnessed the incident told SaharaReporters he was asleep in his shop when he heard people shouting.

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“I was in my shop sleeping because I sell chicken. When I heard the commotion, I ran to the scene and saw that the victim was one of my customers being beaten.”

He said he challenged the officers, asking what the victim’s offence was to warrant such treatment.

“I told them that even if he was a criminal, they had no right to beat him under the Nigerian constitution. The most they should do is take him to the station and get information from him.

“I asked, ‘Is it after beating him to death that you’ll start asking questions?’ When I tried to intervene, someone asked why I was concerned, and I told them the victim was my customer. Since he’d been coming to buy chicken from me, I’d never seen anything suspicious about him.”

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The officers claimed the victim was a criminal they had been tracking for the past three months. The witness replied, “Is that why you want to kill him?”

He told SaharaReporters that he challenged them, saying that if they killed him and ran away, the same police who were supposed to uphold the law would be the ones violating it.

“The deceased was shouting that he was thirsty and could not stand on his own; his eyes had rolled up. When people suggested which hospital to take him to, he kept asking for an inhaler—he was an asthmatic patient.”

He said that when a woman informed the officers that the victim they were beating was asthmatic, one of the officers responded that the victim was pretending.

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“I told the officers that we should call his family, but one of them said the victim’s phone was with them and that it wasn’t a matter for the family. I felt sorry for the guy; he was too weak and could no longer stand on his own. At that point, even the officers seemed scared.”

He added that he urged the officers to take the victim to the hospital. Later, one of them who had accompanied the victim returned around 8 p.m. and informed them that the victim had died.

When SaharaReporters contacted the Kwara State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, she confirmed that the two officers had been arrested and detained.

“Two of the officers have been arrested and detained. An investigation is ongoing,” she said.

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Metro

Two k!lled, 4 others injured as police foil kidnapping attempt in Katsina

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No fewer than 10 kidnapped victims are said to have been rescued from the hands of kidnappers by operatives of the Katsina State Police Command

No fewer than 10 kidnapped victims are said to have been rescued from the hands of kidnappers by operatives of the Katsina State Police Command.

He recalled that on December 24th, 2024, at about 2030 hrs, some suspected bandits, armed with dangerous weapons and shooting sporadically, attacked a commercial vehicle at Kwanar Makera along the Katsina to Magama Jibia road in Jibia LGA, Katsina State, in an attempt to kidnap 10 occupants of the said vehicle.

Upon receipt of the distress call, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Jibia, swiftly led a team of operatives to the scene, engaging the bandits in a gun duel, successfully foiled the kidnap attempt and rescued all the 10 victims.

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The Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Command, CP Aliyu Abubakar Musa, while commending the officers exceptional display of gallantry and dedication to duty, charged officers to sustain the tempo.

He further urged members of the public with useful information on suspected criminal activities to report to the nearest police station for prompt and decisive action.

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Metro

Kogi monarch narrates how he jumped over his fence when Hoodlums raided his palace

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The Etsu Lokoja, HRH Emmanuel Akamisoko Dauda-Shelika, Nyamkpa IV on Monday narrated how he jumped the fence to save his life when some suspected hoodlums attacked his palace and burnt his vehicle and property within the premises.

The palace which was located on plot 306, New Layout, Lokoja, was attacked by hoodlums at about 1:00am on Saturday, while the monarch narrowly escaped by scaling the fence.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the Nupe natives of Lokoja Development Union were planning to host the second edition of their end-of-the-year event, tagged: “Lokoja ‘24 Nupe Cultural Fiesta”, on Saturday, before the incident occurred.

The event was however aborted due to the unfortunate attack around 1:00 am, when many Nupe natives from neighbouring states had started arriving on the eve of the event.

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Narrating his ordeal to our correspondent who visited the scene on Monday, the Etsu Lokoja, said: “It was around 1 am at night that I heard a big bang on my door and I woke up to check through the window, wondering what could have happened.

“Then, I suddenly saw wildfire coming out of my car as it had been set ablaze by attackers.

“I knew it was an attack on the palace, and could not come out because of fear of being attacked. So, I managed to come out through the back door and scaled the fence to save my life.

“Thereafter, I came out to the road and realised that all my neighbours in the community were on the ground trying hard to quench the fire. Unfortunately, the car was burnt as well as other property inside it.”

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He explained that members of the planning committee for the event had a meeting till around 11:30 pm on Friday before departing to their various homes, lamenting that it was unfortunate that the cultural fiesta was aborted due to the ugly incident.

Dauda-Shelika appealed to the government and security agencies to investigate the cause of the attack and bring perpetrators and their sponsors to justice.

He, however, appealed to the Nupe natives in Lokoja to avoid any form of reprisal and continue to remain peaceful, law-abiding and allow government and security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation on the attack.

“We are appealing to His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, and security agencies to please use their good offices to investigate this unfortunate incident, and bring to justice whoever is concerned whether directly or indirectly.

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“We also want government to kindly visit our issues by recognizing and grading the stool of Etsu Lokoja which had been in existence before colonisation.

“By officially recognising and grading Etsu Lokoja stool, we know everything will be laid to rest because that is the power of the government.”

When our correspondent visited the palace on Monday, a police officer on the ground declined to make comments as he claimed not to have not been authorised to speak on the matter.

Efforts to get the state police command to speak proved abortive as the Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, did not take repeated calls to his mobile number. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him.

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Spirited efforts to get the Security Adviser to the state governor to speak on the development failed as he did not take repeated calls to his mobile phone number. He did not respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of filling this report.

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Metro

Two Die, Four injured In Edo Road Accident

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Two persons were yesterday confirmed dead in an accident that happened in the Ikhinero community on the Benin-Agbor road in Edo State.

It was gathered that four other passengers in the affected vehicles also sustained various degrees of injuries

The Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Cyril Mathew, who confirmed the report said three vehicles were involved in the accident.

The Sector Commander who attributed the accident to overspeeding, cautioned motorists against excessive speed.

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“The accident happened around 6:10 pm along the Benin-Agbor road by Guinness deport due to overspeed”.

He said six persons including two adult males and four adult females were involved in the accident, adding that two were killed while four others were injured.

He said the injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment, while the deceased were deposited at the morgue.

He however , charged motorists to obey traffic rules and regulations, avoid night journeys and being drunk, while driving and as well fasten their seat belt to reach their destinations safely during the yuletide.

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