Leaders from Enenurhie community in Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, are accusing the police of extra-judicially killing Mr. Oyibo Diamond, a father of five and the community youth leader.
According to President General of the leaders forum, Mr. Peter Maison, Diamond was arrested on December 20, 2023, at Ughelli A Police Division and died under mysterious circumstances on Christmas Eve.
Maison stated, “When we heard about the incident, we went to the station to effect their release; the police refused, insisting they had a case against the youth leader. The circumstances that led to his death are not clear to us.”
Expressing concern over the police’s actions, Maison added, “It is surprising that the police carried out an autopsy on him without the knowledge of the community or family members just to absolve themselves from his death. The pathologist is somebody the same police brought, and I will not believe any result that would be presented.”
He raised doubts about the autopsy process, saying, “Autopsy ought to be a thing where specialists would collect vital organs for testing before coming up with a result, but that never happened. We see that they want to come for settlement, but for now, they should tell us what they did to him.”
Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Edafe Bright, responded, saying, “The suspect was sick; he was taken to the hospital where he died. Autopsy has even been carried out which confirmed he died of natural sickness.”
