A professional footballer and defender of Remo Stars Football Club of Sagamu in Ogun State, Tiamiyu Kazeem popularly known as Kaka has been crushed to death by an unknown hit-and-run vehicle while escaping from the police.

Kazeem was reported to have been arrested by an Inspector of police from Zonal Intervention Squad, Obada, Ogun State on Saturday, for allegedly always putting on military cap and uniform to harass people in Sagamu.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the incident.

Oyeyemi said some people reported the deceased at the ZIS office that he was fond of using military uniform to harass residents of Sagamu.

He explained that Kazeem was arrested and was being taken from Sagamu to the ZIS office, Obada in Abeokuta when the Operation vehicle developed a fault on the road.

While the vehicle was being fixed the suspect, according to the PPRO, jumped out of the vehicle and ran away.

He was crushed to death by an oncoming vehicle while he was crossing the other side of the Abeokuta-Sagamu expressway in Orile-Imo.

The PPRO in a statement said “the fact of the matter is that an Inspector of police from ZIS went to arrest the deceased for putting on a military cap.

“On his way coming to Abeokuta, the vehicle developed mechanical fault and while trying to rectify it, the man jumped down and took to his heels.

“While crossing the road, a fast-moving coming vehicle crushed him to death at Orile-Imo.”

But, the Remo Stars Football Club disagreed with the police over Kazeem’s death.

The Club in a statement signed by its Media Manager, Oladimeji Oshode insisted that he was killed by a policeman from the Special Anti Robbery Squad from the Ogun State Command.

Oshode described Kazeem’s death as an irreparable and great loss to Remo Stars Family and the entire football fraternity.

He explained that the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon in Sagamu while the deceased was driving along Sagamu area of Ogun State with one of his teammates, Sanni Abubakar.

The statement read

“According to an eyewitness, he claimed that the SARS officer stopped the footballer to label him a Yahoo Boy and they insisted on taking him to the nearby police station.

“The SARS officer stopped Tiyamiyu Kazeem insisting that he was a Yahoo Boy, he brought out his identity (ID) card to identify himself as a player of Remo Stars FC but the officer insisted on taking him to the nearest police station in Sagamu.”

“Tiyamiyu and Sanni obliged, followed the SARS officers, only for them to notice that they were driving towards Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway, then the guys questioned to know where the SARS officers were taking them to, but this prompted them to stop the car and push him (Tiyamiyu) out of the car, whereby an unknowing vehicle knocked him down.

“He was immediately rushed to Fakoya Hospital in Sagamu, where it was confirmed that Tiyamiyu Kazeem was no more.

“Until his death, he was a humble and reliable defender for Remo Stars FC in the ongoing 2019/2020 Nigeria National League (NNL).”

Clearing the air on the allegation, Oyeyemi denied the report, saying the evidence at his disposal showed that Kazeem was not shot, but was crushed by an unknown vehicle on the expressway.

The PPRO said

“he was not shot as being insinuated, his vehicle is at owode Egba intact.”

Meanwhile, there was pandemonium on Saturday in Sagamu, when angry residents staged a protest on the streets over the alleged murder of Kazeem by a police operative.

The aggrieved youths in Sagamu took the protesters to the palace of Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, while chanting anti-SARS slogans and demanding sanctions for the “killer” cop.