Gombe EndSARS Panel: How Police left me to pay for Autopsy after beating my cousin to death
Chima Azubuike, Gombe
An army officer, Ahmadu Mohammed has narrated how his late cousin Aliyu Mohammed, was allegedly killed in Kumo Divisional police station, Gombe State and the family abandoned, adding that the family was promised two million naira (N2,000,000) as compensation but was not fulfilled.
Mohammed a lieutenant in the Nigeria Army, and the Imam of 301 artillery Gombe said the police failed to sponsor the autopsy on the deceased.
He made this revelation on Monday, while testifying at the Gombe state commission of inquiry on the proscribed Special Anti Robbery Squad and other related agencies.
According to him, the pathologist charged them N120,000 as fees for the post mortem but was neglected by police authorities who said they were not the ones that should pay.
He explained that, “25th June 2019, at about 7:30pm, I was called by my younger sister Lami Mohammed the senior sister to the deceased. She called to inform me police killed Aliyu Mohammed while crying. I had to call Abubakar Mohammed the petitioner in this case to ask what is going on and he narrated the same story that police killed his brother and that the funeral will be tomorrow but instructed him that the funeral will not hold until I come. I went police divisional police at Kumo, where the event occurred with some relatives on reaching there the DPO was not on seat but I met the DCO whom I asked to give me inquest form but he declined saying he was not with such.
“When we got to the General Hospital Kumo, we found late Aliyu on a stretcher, his shirt was full of dry blood, as well as his nose and mouth which had dry blood.
I applied for death certificate which they charged N500 for but unfortunately, I didn’t get it immediately.
“On 26th June 2019, at the mortuary they refused to accept the corpse because of the absence of death certificate at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe but finally agreed to collect the corpse after my explanations. Dr Aliyu of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Pathology department, charged me the sum of N120,000 for post mortem examination but I pleaded that I don’t have the money, that I thought government would pay, with the thought that police will pay but I was told it is my responsibility and not police. I went back to Dr. Aliyu but he reduced the pay to N100,000, adding that I should get advance but I raised N30,000- N40,000 which I handed to him to commence the process.
“Out of 58million blood money agreed to be played the family asked for ten percent which is 5.8million but when the police failed to meet the demand the emissary they sent said they will pay N2,000,000 since 2019 till now they are yet to pay.”
In his ruling, Justice Sa’ad Mohammed, chairman of the commission, asked that the matter be adjourned till Monday 25th 2021 to enable the commission admit other witnesses.
