Man Slumps, Dies While Trying To Bail His Sons At Niger State Police Station

An aged man from Gbeganu Area in Minna, the capital of Niger State, Alhaji Muftau Mohammed, has tragically collapsed and died at Morris Police Division.

Reports obtained by Naija News on Saturday revealed the man had visited the station to secure the release of his two sons, Mubarak Ahmed and Yusuf Mohammed, who had been apprehended by the police.

According to Daily Trust, Mubarak and Yusuf were taken into custody by the police at approximately 11 pm on Wednesday while they were sleeping outside their house due to the intense heat.

Narrating the incident, Yusuf told journalists that he and his brother were lying down in a burglary in front of their house around 11:23 pm when three police patrol vans passed them and went into Gbeganu Area.

He said: “A few hours later, we saw them coming back, and we stood up. Suddenly, the vehicle in the middle packed in front of us and they asked what we were doing outside. We told them that it was where we normally sleep because of heat. One of the officers forced the burglary opened and ordered his colleagues to put us in the vehicle and take us to the station.

“When we got to the station at Morris, they collected our phones and put us in the cell. About 20 minutes later, I was in the cell when I heard my father’s voice outside. Later I heard him screaming, asking for water and few seconds later, I didn’t hear anything again. It was at that point that I asked one of the officers what was happening outside. But one of the officers told his colleague not to tell us anything. Later I didn’t hear our father’s voice again until when we were told that he was dead.”

Dauda Jimo, the deceased neighbour who transported him to the police station on his bike that tragic night, also mentioned that Alhaji Muftau Mohammed suffered from high blood pressure.

According to him, whenever Alhaji Mohammed woke up in distress, he would often experience a severe headache.

He said: “It was in my presence that his sons were picked by the police and Alhaji had already retired to bed. It was the noise from his daughters and neighbourhood that woke him up horribly. So, when they told him that Mubarak and Yusuf were taken away by the police, he called me to bring my bike to take him to the police station. We got to the police station at about 12:33 am.

“So, where we were seated, he told me he had a severe headache, and I should get him water to drink. We looked for water around the vicinity but we couldn’t get because all the shops around had closed for the day. It was in the process that he collapsed and one of the tricycles that was arrested was released to take us to the hospital and one policeman was asked to follow us.

“We went to Imani Clinic; we were told that the doctor was not around. So, we headed for General Hospital. On our way, the fuel in the Tricycle was finished. It was at that point that we saw one of the police vans with which Yusuf and Mubarak were arrested. So, they stopped, and we told them what happened, and they took us to Minna General Hospital. Getting to the hospital, we dropped Alhaji’s dead body, and the police left.”

Another resident, Alhaji Ahmad Abdullahi, who asserted to have observed everything that occurred, informed reporters that the wife of the deceased, who accompanied them to the police station, collapsed upon hearing the news of her husband’s passing.

“The wife wanted to trek kilometres to Morris Police Division that night, but I obliged her to enter my car. Immediately, we got to Morris Police Division, and one of our neighbours who took Alhaji there rushed to me. Not knowing that his wife was sitting in the back seat, he broke the news to us, and the wife jumped out of the car. As she was about to run to enter the station, she fell down and fainted. It took some minutes before she was revived,” the news platform quoted the resident saying.

Upon being contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, verified the occurrence.

He told journalists that the police have initiated an inquiry to establish the truth and to examine whether any negligence occurred, in order to take appropriate disciplinary measures.

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