ENDSARS Panel orders Osun Police to release corpse

ENDSARS Panel of Inquiry orders Osun Police to release corpse of man killed in 2017

… As deceased’s family demands N50m compensation

By Ekene Agbor, Osogbo

Osun Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra Judicial Killings on Friday ordered the Police in the state to immediately and unconditionally release the corpse of one Mr. Akeem Olalekan Ibitoye who was gruesomely murdered on the 25th of April, 2017 in Erin-Osun, Irepodun Local Government Area of the State.

The panel gave the order after granting the application filed by the petitioners’ Counsel, Barrister Kehinde Adesiyan.

Recall that the petition filed by Mrs. Kafayat Ibitoye (wife of the deceased) and Mr. Teslim Ibitoye (elder brother of the deceased) was adjourned last week after the panel granted the application filed by the petitioners’ counsel to amend the application requesting the release of the corpse of the deceased.

While being led in evidence, an elder brother to the deceased, Mr. Teslim Ibitoye, told the panel how gunshots were fired at him by some Policemen and the deceased when they paid a visit to their cousin on that fateful day.

He said his brother died immediately and he (Teslim Ibitoye) had a live bullet inside his spinal cord and  he had been carrying the bullet around since the incident occurred.

Ibitoye who spoke in pains said the incident had caused serious setbacks to the family as the wife and children of the deceased had been exposed to suffering while he had spent all he had, including property, to treat himself.

He said the incident has registered everlasting trauma in their lives.

The petitioner urged the panel to prevail on the Police and other appropriate authorities to come to the aid of the family, particularly himself who needs medical treatment abroad to remove the live bullet from his spinal cord.

He also requested the panel to grant the application requesting the immediate release of his brother’s corpse just as he also demanded the payment of N50million as compensation to the family.

Also, the wife of the deceased, Kafayat, who is also a petitioner in the case, said the incident had rendered her a window, urging the panel to grant all the requests made by the family to cushion the effects of the ugly incident.

The deceased’s wife, who brought her three little kids to the panel, said it was unfortunate that her children didn’t have a father anymore as the life of the deceased was cut short by the policeman who killed him for no just cause.