Men of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has been accused of allegedly torturing a man identified as Rasak Ahmed to death.
The family of the deceased, who raised the alarm on Wednesday in Akure, the Ondo State, pleaded with the state government as well as human rights organizations to come to their aid, maintaining that Razak was wrongfully accused.
It was gathered that Razak was arrested by the NSCDC personnel on Sunday over an allegation of incest.
According to a source within the neighbourhood, the deceased was reported to be allegedly involved in having carnal knowledge of his 12-year-old daughter (name withheld) at the Aule area of Akure.
“It was one of his daughters from another wife, who reported the case at the NSCDC station in Akure on Sunday; so, he was beaten to death by the men of the NSCDC today (Tuesday),” a source said.
The younger sister of the deceased, who gave her name as Mrs Taiwo, alleged that Razak was beaten to death with batons used on him during the torture.
She said, “It was one of his daughters that lied against him at the NSCDC station and he was arrested and taken to their office.
“In the cell, the NSCDC personnel started beating him with sticks because he told them that he did not commit the offence.
“The torture was too much and he gave up the ghost and his corpse was taken to the mortuary by the NSCDC personnel.”
Taiwo, who is seeking justice from relevant authorities, emphasized that the NSCDC has been trying to sweep the case under the carpet.
“We appeal to other security agencies, President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State to order an investigation into the killing of our son by NSCDC,” she stated.
Reacting to the allegation, the NSCDC’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Samuel Oladapo admitted that the deceased died in custody but refuted the claim that his death was as a result of torture.
According to the statement issued by the corps PRO, he stated that Rasak killed himself while in custody.
The statement reads: “the suspect was arrested by our men at our out-post station and brought to the state headquarters on Monday for proper investigations.
“And during our investigation, Ahmed confessed to the offence and attributed it to devil’s work.
“Before he was detained in the cell, he was complaining and begging that he should be allowed to put on his ‘buba’ and ‘sokoto’ (native wear) 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 iron door of the cell being a short man, having torn his cloth 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,” he stated.
The PRO also disclosed that the corpse had been deposited in a government hospital for autopsy, adding that the police had commenced investigation to confirm the actual cause of the death.
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