Seyi Oduyiga, a father of three, was arrested on suspicion of cult membership and allegedly tortured to death while in the custody of the Ogun State Police Command.
According to information obtained by HEALTHYSPOT101, the victim was apprehended by police in a raid on November 18 at around 5:00 p.m., when he had reportedly gone to charge his phone.
The deceased and others were reportedly transferred to the Awolowo police station in Sagamu following the arrest, where he was reportedly charged with cultism.
Other alleged cultists seized by the police argued that the deceased was not a cultist, according to sources in the neighborhood who did not want their identities printed because of the intricacy of the situation, and who spoke to a HEALTHYSPOT101 reporter.
Three days after his arrest, Oduyiga was transferred to the police headquarters in Eleweran, where he remained until his death was announced to his family.
Mary Oduyiga, the departed sister, was adamant that justice be done.
They wouldn’t let us have him back despite our pleading,” she said. They freed the other suspect, saying he wouldn’t be charged with anything because he didn’t have any tattoos. Bail for Seyi was revoked. On Sunday, we returned to the scene and spoke with Inspector Raji, who confirmed that he had been arrested on Saturday night. We were told to come back on Monday since the family representatives hadn’t seen the IPO yet.
Since Seyi had done nothing wrong, he was pleading to be let go. My brother who was present stated the IPO threatened to ensure he made him suffer, The IPO said that he must be transferred to Headquarters Eleweran and was eventually taken there on Tuesday.
I was in Ibadan, but the situation necessitated my travel to Abeokuta on a Thursday night. I traveled to Eleweran on Friday and carried along goods; bread, malt, and bottled water. When I arrived, I was told to wait for him rather than witness the IPO. Unfortunately, I did not make it to Eleweran until after the IPO had already begun, at around 1:00 PM. He instructed me to wait outside till he was done when I introduced myself and stated I needed to see my older brother, Seyi.
The cops asked me for N2,000 when I brought food to present to my brother in jail; I gave N1,000 to a policewoman.
The wait was too much for me, so I returned to the policewoman and begged to be permitted to visit my brother; she eventually gave in. After being told by inmates that he had been gone since the morning, we were summoned to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. We had no idea he wanted to tell us the bad news; he then stated, “Your child was misbehaving in the cell overnight; he was biting the inmates, talking to himself, and generally acting like he had run insane. When they got him to the hospital, he stopped struggling. He just ceased breathing.”
However, the family is adamant that their child was tortured to death because they did not pay the N200,000 bribe the police had demanded.
Responding through a statement, the command’s spokeswoman, SP Omolola Odutola, denied reports that the victim was tortured to death.
Both the deceased and one other suspect had previously submitted a “confession statement to being members of the outlawed Buccaneer and Eiye confraternity Secret cult,” according to the police spokesperson. Seyi admitted in 2015 that he had been initiated.
According to the Ogun State Police Command, contrary to rumors in some online media, the deceased was not tortured to death.
“Torture is completely against our protocols and ideals. The Ogun State Police Command is very familiar with the laws that protect people from being subjected to torture or other degrading treatment while they are in police custody.
Odutola was, however, silent on the N200,000 bribe claim.
