A policeman serving under the Kwara State Police Command, Taiye Atobiloye, has died in a cell at the D Division of the Kogi State Police Command, following his detention for being absent from duty for two days at the Zone 8 Command, Lokoja, Kogi State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Atobiloye, with service number 232980, who was attached to the Oke Onigbin Division in Kwara State, was posted for a special duty called Quick Intervention at the Zone 8 Command for a month.
After his resumption in Lokoja, the policeman was said to have been absent from duty for two days and was later found.PUNCH gathered that as punishment for his absence without permission, Atobiloye was detained in a cell.
A source, while chronicling the circumstances surrounding the incident, said Atobiloye languished in the cell for eight days, adding that the policeman died in detention.
The source said, “What happened was that every month, the Zone 8 Command usually picks policemen from every division and posts them for special duty for a month in Zone 8 Command, Lokoja, and after one month, the policemen will return home.
“So, Atobiloye, who was attached to the Oke Onigbin Division, was part of the policemen posted to the Zone 8 Command, Lokoja, but when he resumed, he didn’t come for work for two days and was punished by being detained in a cell for about eight days.
“It was when policemen checked on him in the cell that they realised he had slumped and died in the cell. At the cell he was detained, only offending policemen are usually detained there, so it is likely he was alone in the cell.”
- PUNCH
