Man Mysteriously Dies In NSCDC Custody

A 38-year-old graduate of the College of Agriculture, Bakura in Zamfara State, Jamilu Abdullahi has mysteriously died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Sokoto state.

According to his mother he was allegedly tortured to death by the officials of the NSCDC, Daily Trust reports.

Abdullahi was said to have been detained and tortured at the Sokoto south divisional headquarters of the NSCDC command, before he was taken to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching hospital where he died.

Narrating what happened, she said:

 “There was a misunderstanding between him and one woman in our neighbourhood and she reported the matter to the Sokoto South divisional headquarters of the NSCDC whose men came around 6:30pm and arrested him.

“We visited the headquarters several times, seeking his release, instead, they tortured him to a state of comma after which they took him to the Sokoto Specialist Hospital for medical attention because of the injuries they inflicted on him and were later referred to the Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, where he died on Friday, May, 29.

“They brought his corpse to us but we rejected it because there was no certification concerning his death from the hospital. We therefore, insisted on knowing the cause of his death, especially when signs of torture were noticed all over his body.”

She has therefore appealed to the relevant authorities to make sure the culprits are brought to book.

Speaking on the incident, the state Commandant of the NSCDC, Alhaji Muhammad Musa said they were still trying to unravel the mystery behind Abdullahi’s death.

He noted that the ongoing investigations will reveal if he was really killed by the NSCDC personnel, saying justice would be served and the culprits will be punished.

The commandant added that the deceased family rejected his corpse on the grounds that they suspected a foul play.

The corpse has been deposited at the morgue of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, pending the obtaining of his death certificate.

Last year, a staff of Ecobank, Babatunde Oke was allegedly killed in police custody. The police had claimed that he died as  a result of a poisonous coke he consumed.