Kwara University Student Allegedly Beaten To Death By Police Officers In Ilorin

Ilorin Kwara State – Three police officers have allegedly beaten a Kwara State University (KWASU) student to death at Tanke Bridge in Ilorin, Kwara State.

It was gathered that the incident occurred on Tuesday around 2 p.m. when the victim got off a motorcycle and was approached by three officers from the Ganmo Division, who then dragged him to the ground.

It would be recalled that in September, three police officers reportedly shot dead a student of Kwara State Polytechnic, identified as Ishola Abdulqoyum, along Panat Road, a link between Sango and ShopRite in Kwara State.

Abdulqoyum, an ND II part-time student of Electrical/Electronics Engineering, was said to be  on a commercial motorcycle which the police arrested.

An eyewitness told Afrikaa Eyes on Friday that the victim had arrived by motorcycle to collect ₦1,000 he had already transferred to a Point of Sale (POS) operator, intending to give the money to the rider who had brought him.

“I was with him,” the eyewitness said. “As soon as he got the money, the officers came out of a tricycle and dragged him to the ground. The victim kept asking what offence he had committed, but they didn’t let him speak.”

The witness further explained that the victim pleaded with the officers, informing them that he was asthmatic, but they ignored his pleas.

The witness confronted the officers, asking why they were assaulting the student. When he questioned what crime the victim had committed, the officers claimed they had come from Lagos after receiving information about him.

“We asked if they were indeed tracking him from Lagos, they should have called the headquarters or a divisional station to send a vehicle,” the witness recounted. “They couldn’t give us a clear answer and instead tried to find a tricycle to transport him.”

“It reached a point where I had to step in. One of the officers tried to cock his gun. I told him to shoot if they thought they could leave freely, while another officer was telling him, ‘Don’t shoot.'”

The eyewitness expressed distress over the way the officers beat and mistreated the victim. He described the deceased as a kind and friendly person who often visited him to buy meat. The victim’s friend, a POS operator, said the deceased would often stop by to play before leaving.

An eyewitness has claimed that the victim did not have any altercations with anyone prior to the incident.

“They were using their guns to hit him on the head, kicking him, and handcuffing him. That’s when he began to weaken. He drank six or seven bottles of water here,” the witness stated.

The eyewitness recounted informing one of the officers that the victim was asthmatic and shouldn’t be treated so harshly, but the officer showed no sympathy.

“A woman selling groundnuts also intervened, telling them that the victim was too weak, but they ignored her. One officer even said, ‘Let him die. We don’t care,’” the eyewitness added.

The eyewitness expressed disbelief that those entrusted with protecting citizens’ lives were the very ones causing harm.

“The guy truly suffered before he died. One of our people followed the officers while others insisted they take him to the hospital. The officers told him that if anyone asked what happened, he should claim to know nothing.”

Meanwhile, the eyewitness further revealed that, instead of heading directly to the police station in Ganmo, the officers diverted their route. By the time they reached the station, the victim had already passed away.

The eyewitness has called on Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the state police commissioner to launch an investigation into the incident and arrest the three officers involved.

In an interview with Afrikaa Eyes, another witness described how, when the officers attempted to forcibly remove the deceased, people stood their ground, demanding he receive medical assistance.

The witness added that the victim repeatedly asked for water due to his weakness. Although he was given water, he lost strength from the brutal beating, prompting others to urge the officers to take him to a hospital.

A frozen food vendor who was present during the incident told Afrikaa Eyes that he had been asleep in his shop when he was awakened by the sounds of people shouting.

“I was in my shop resting because I sell chicken when I heard a disturbance. I rushed to the scene and saw that the victim was one of my regular customers being beaten.”

He said he confronted the officers, asking what the victim had done to deserve such treatment.

“I told them that even if he were a criminal, they had no right to beat him according to the Nigerian constitution. The proper procedure would be to take him to the station and question him.”

“I asked, ‘Is it after beating him to death that you’ll start asking questions?’ When I tried to intervene, someone questioned why I was getting involved, and I explained that the victim was my customer. He’s been coming to buy chicken from me for a while, and I’ve never seen anything suspicious about him.”

The officers claimed the victim was a criminal they had been tracking for three months. The witness responded, “Is that why you want to kill him?”

He told Afrikaa Eyes that he confronted them, saying that if they killed the man and fled, it would be the police, the very ones supposed to uphold the law, who would be violating it.

“The man was shouting that he was thirsty and couldn’t stand. His eyes had rolled back. When people suggested a hospital, he kept asking for his inhaler—he was asthmatic.”

He said when a woman told the officers that the victim was asthmatic, one of them dismissed it, claiming the victim was pretending.

“I suggested calling his family, but one officer said they had the victim’s phone and that the family didn’t need to be involved. I felt sorry for the man—he was so weak, he could no longer stand on his own. Even the officers looked uneasy.”

He urged the officers to take the victim to the hospital. Later, one of them who had gone with the victim returned around 8 p.m. and informed them that the victim had died.

When Afrika Eyes contacted the Kwara State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, she confirmed the arrest of two officers involved in the incident, stating that an investigation was underway.