He was tortured in my presence, Wife says as NSCDC insists man committed suicide

The death of Razak Ahmed in the custody of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps is generating controversy.

Razak, who was arrested by the men of the NSCDC on Sunday for allegedly committing incest with his daughter, died in custody on Tuesday with his family alleging that he was tortured to death by the NSCDC personnel.

The NSCDC, however, said Razak committed suicide by hanging himself in the cell.

The wife of the deceased, Muibat, told PUNCH Metro that her husband was tortured to death by 10 NSCDC personnel.

She said, “I was in their office at Alagbaka, Akure, on Monday; in my presence, about 10 of the NSCDC personnel were beating him and turning him upside down. One of their bosses said he would be severely dealt with in the night.

“When I could no longer bear the torture he was being subjected to, I rushed at them and started begging them to stop beating him, but they refused. One of them asked me if I still loved him and I said yes, because he was my husband and the father of my children.

“As I was begging them, one of their bosses came and hit him with a stick and said he would deal with him in the night. As I was begging, one of them hit my head with a stick, saying I should leave them alone.

“Later in the evening, we were asked to go home and come back the following morning; but on getting there on Tuesday, we were told that he had died.”

Muibat appealed to the federal and state governments and other stakeholders to assist the family to unravel the circumstances of the death of her husband and bring the perpetrators to justice.

However, the NSCDC, in a statement issued by the Ondo State Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Samuel Oladapo, said the deceased killed himself in custody.

Oladapo said, “The suspect was arrested on Sunday following a complaint by his son, Ibrahim, that his father was having carnal knowledge of his sister. He (the suspect) was arrested by our men at our outpost station and brought to the state headquarters on Monday for proper investigation.

“During our investigation, Razak confessed to the offence and attributed it to the devil’s work. Before he was detained in the cell, he was complaining and begging that he should be allowed to put on his clothes, because he had cold, which we obliged.

“Meanwhile, he was brought to the headquarters around 6pm and surprisingly, when one of our men approached his cell to deliver food brought by one of his relatives, he was found dangling on the iron door of the cell being a short man, having tore his clothes to hang himself.

“It was unfortunate that he was the only inmate in the cell, which made it easy for him to carry out the dastardly act.”

The NSCDC spokesman explained that Razak’s corpse had been deposited in a hospital for autopsy, adding that the police had commenced investigation into the incident.