Nigeria Police Force has said that an armed robbery and murder suspect who died in custody “was not murdered, but slumped and died”. The detained gang leader, Micheal Adikwu, was among those arrested for their alleged roles in the April 5 bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State. Over 20 people were killed in the incident.
The Kwara State justice commissioner, Kamal Ajibade, on Wednesday announced Adikwu’s death during the trial of five suspects on trial for the fatal robbery. Ajibade told the judge that he was informed by the police of Adikwu’s death but was not told how the suspect died.
Many Nigerians including Senate President Bukola Saraki have since criticised the police demanding to know how the suspect died. Mr Saraki, who had been allegedly named by some of the suspects as their sponsor, demanded a probe of the death.
In a statement by police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, on Thursday, the police said the suspect’s death does not absolve Saraki of any wrongdoing. Mr Moshood said a post-mortem report on Mr Adikwu’s cause of death is available. He, however, did not include any details of the post-mortem report.
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