This is quite
sad! For six hours, 19-year-old Rilwanu Akintunde was beaten up, handcuffed and
locked inside a teargassed room for allegedly stealing N90,000.
The teenager's
torturers were his mother, Mrs. Akintunde, her brother Kayode and a policeman
identified as Titus.
Rilwanu, alias
Rado, denied collecting the money said to belong to his mother, a hawker. But
his attackers didn’t believe him. Unable to bear the torture, the teenager
passed out and was rushed to Beachland Hospital, Arepo, where he was confirmed
dead on Sunday evening.
His torturers
secretly buried him at his mother’s site at Sotel, not knowing their action
would draw the wrath of residents of Oriola Street, Ibafo and environs.
Youths in the
area went berserk after discovering that the money for which Rilwanu was
tortured to death was later found in his mother’s closet.
Wielding
cutlasses, bottles, sticks and fire, the mob, it was gathered, stormed Kayode’s
residence; chased the tenants away and vandalised his property.
Inscriptions,
such as “Rado was a good son born by a stupid mother” were seen on walls of the
building, with roofs, doors and windows destroyed.
When The
Nation visited the community, residents were clamouring for justice to the culprits.
It was
gathered Kayode and his police friend, Titus, had fled the neighbourhood. The
deceased’s mother and Kayode’s wife were arrested by policemen from Ibafo
Division, who visited the place.
According to
residents, Rilwanu’s killers might have had another motive for their action
because the teenager was neither a thief nor troublesome.
His friends,
it was gathered, produced an obituary for him, which they pasted not far from
the community mosque.
The deceased’s
wife, Damilola Owoigbe, with their eight-month-old son on her arms, demanded
justice.
She said: “I
want those responsible for my husband’s death to be arrested and jailed for
life. They killed him for nothing. Rado was never a thief. Everyone in Ibafo
loved him. He was a peaceful person. He was an apprentice at a tailoring shop
because he wanted to make life better for us and for his two siblings.
“Their father
is dead. Their mother sells bottled water in traffic. She was the one who went
and told her brother on Sunday morning that Rilwanu stole her N90,000. Then,
her brother, Kayode sent his wife to call his police friend, Titus and they
tortured him to death.
“I was not
there. I was in my mother’s house. But I was told that the policeman brought
handcuffs and teargas, which they used on him. I was also told that blood was
all over his body. Now, I am confused because I don’t know who would take care
of our son.”
A source, who
craved anonymity, told The Nation the policeman worked at Area G Command in the
Ogba area of Lagos.
Police
spokesman, Ogun State Command Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident, but
said he was unaware if Titus was a policeman.
He said: “The
information I got is that the woman, the boy’s stepfather and his friend
tortured him to death. They said the woman complained that her N90,000 was
missing and she accused her son.
Then, she told
the boy’s stepfather, who sent his wife to contact a friend of his. They all
tortured the boy to death and secretly buried him. The woman later saw the
money.
“At the
moment, the two men involved are on the run, but the women have been arrested.
They have been transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal
Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID). The Police Commissioner
Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered that the fleeing suspects be arrested.
“I am not
aware that one of them is a policeman. But be assured that they will be fished
out and dealt with in accordance with the law.”
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