Following the denial by the police that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad [SARS] were responsible for the death of Tiamiyu Kazeem, a Remo Stars FC player, an eyewitness has claimed the police lied.
The witness, Sanni Abubakar, who claimed he was in the deceased car and witnessed first hand the incidents that led to the player’s death, has alleged that the police caused his death.
WuzupNigeria reports that Kazeem, popularly called Kaka, was – according to the police – crushed by an unknown hit-and-run vehicle on the Sagamu-Abeokuta expressway after he jumped out of a police vehicle to evade arrest. The police had claimed he was arrested for wearing military camouflage and using same to disturb residents.
Now, Kaka’s friend has dismissed the police claims as untrue. He insisted that he was in the vehicle of late Kazeem, which was being driven by a SARS operative and following the operational vehicle – a Toyota Sienna – where late Kazeem was kept, when the incident happened.
He claimed that Kaka was pushed onto the expressway by the SARS operatives. He added that he tried to rescue his friend before he eventually gave up the ghost.
Abubakar said himself and his friend were arrested by SARS operatives who accosted them in Sagamu where they parked their vehicle to buy an engine Oil before they proceeded on their journey.
He said the operatives who drove in Sienna bus seized their phones and took them away for an offence they were not told.
He said,
“I am Sanni Abubakar. I am Kaka’s friend. What happened was that we came out from the house this morning (Saturday), as we were driving to his (Kaka) father’s house we parked at Ita-Oba roundabout to buy engine oil for his car.
“After he left me inside the car, the SARS guys just parked in front of the car. They came in Siena bus, they started interrogating me: who am I? What am I doing here? Who owns the car? I told them it belongs to my friend. They asked me where is he? I told them he went to buy something.
“They asked where is my phone, I told them it is here; they took my phone and my friend’s phone from me they did not explain anything to me. The SARS guy collected the phones and handed them over to the other guy in the Sienna.
“So, after that, my friend was coming from where he went to buy the engine oil, they grabbed him and pushed him inside their Sienna car and started driving.
“They said they are taking us to their headquarters, we asked them that where are you taking us to after we passed the Area Command’s Office in Sagamu, we asked them to stop there, they said they are taking us to their headquarters.
“So, after the express junction, after Nestle company (Sagamu interchange), they now parked at one junction and started asking us questions.
“The SARS that was driving Kaka’s vehicle was with me he came out and opened the bonnet of the car after he opened the bonnet of the car I wanted to come out from the car he told me to stop and was threatening me with a gun and everything.
“He said I should sit inside the car, so, the next thing is he closed the bonnet. In front of me where the Sienna was parked, they started driving again, I just saw the door of the Sienna car opened, they now pushed my friend out of the moving car on the road, that was when the car that was coming behind us hit him, after hitting him from the lane, Kaka jumped from the lane to the other lane, I came out of the car shouting and crying for help that they should help me and take him to hospital.
“We took him and put him inside his own car because they don’t want to put him inside their own car, we took him to the nearby hospital but, the hospital rejected him, they said they cannot treat him.
“They asked us to take him to the General hospital, Owode when we get to the General hospital we cannot find the SARS in the Sienna who were following us before, they have run away.
“After dropping Kaka in the hospital, I was shouting emergency. The health workers came out, we had dropped Kaka on the floor they asked us to carry him on the bed. I asked where is the SARS guy that was driving us? I saw the SARS guy making calls asking others to come that he was in the hospital and I observed he was moving towards the gate I now ran to him and held him he was holding his gun we were dragging each other. I said you are not going to anywhere you must kill me first because you have killed my friend that was what happened with Kaka.
“I held him with his gun we were dragging as we were dragging, the hospital staff came out and held him for me and asked me to report at the nearby police station.
“I went to call police, parents of Kaka and our manager that was what happened .”
But, the police insisted that the deceased caused his own death by jumping out of the vehicle while he was being taken away to the police station for interrogation.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi in a statement said, it was one SARS operative from Zonal Intervention Squad, Obada in Abeokuta that was involved.
According to Oyeyemi , the operative went to effect the deceased’s arrest after a complaint from some people over his alleged harassment with army uniform .
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 to 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 a 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 .”
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.”
