"We want justice" - children of woman allegedly killed by police

The children of Mrs. Aderonke Adelugba, who was allegedly killed by a policeman in the Sijuade area of Akure, Ondo State, on Sunday have called on the government and human rights groups in the country to assist them to ensure that the matter is not swept under the carpet.

The children also lamented that the autopsy of the deceased had yet to be done because they could not afford the N42,000 bill charged them by the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Akure, where the corpse was deposited, Punch reports.

Adelugba, 50, was reportedly hit with the butt of a gun by one of the policemen attached to the Oda division as she appealed to the cops not to arrest one of her children who the police accused of being a hemp smoker.

The deceased was said to have been rushed to a private hospital, where it was confirmed that she had died. The policemen allegedly fled the scene immediately the woman collapsed. One of the deceased’s children, Charles, who spoke with our correspondent on behalf of others on Tuesday, appealed to the government to assist them in getting justice, saying they had nobody to assist them in fighting for justice.

The 30-year-old casual worker, said,

“On the fateful day, I was inside the house, when I heard my mother shouting outside. I rushed out and I saw a policeman dragging my brother, Tosa, into their vehicle. I also saw my mother begging them not to arrest him, that her child is not a criminal.“Suddenly, one of them hit my mother on the chest with the butt of the gun and she fell down. One of them said she was pretending that nothing was wrong with her. A few minutes later, my mother started foaming from the mouth.

We rushed her to the hospital, but the doctor told us that she had died. By that time, the policemen had fled the area.

The corpse is still at the specialist hospital; we don’t have the money for the autopsy because they said we should bring N42,000 and we could not afford it.“We are calling on the government and human rights organisations to come to our aid.“We don’t want the matter to be swept under the carpet. I know the policeman who killed my mother; we don’t want him to go scot-free. We want justice.”

It was gathered on Tuesday that the commissioner had set up an investigative panel on the matter, report of which was expected to determine the next line of action by the police. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wole Ogodo, who confirmed the incident, said seven policemen that went to the shop of the deceased had been arrested and the report of the panel set up by the CP would determine their fate. The police spokesman said the woman started panting and died after policemen had left the house.

He said:

“She was not killed by the policemen as being claimed by the family.“ The policemen wanted to arrest some hoodlums who ran into the deceased’s house, she wanted to hide the hoodlums, so it was in the process of preventing the policemen from entering the house that she fell down.“’So in the information available to me, it was not the policemen that killed her, we learnt that she was hypertensive but we will investigate the matter.”

Ogodo added that an autopsy would be carried out on the deceased by the hospital.