Published 19th Dec, 2021

By Emmanuel Uti

Alidu Bello, a truck driver based in Ibadan, has accused officials of the Department of State Service (DSS) in Imo State of killing Sakiru Bello, his brother.

Bello told FIJ that on December 7, his brother and his assistant were on an expressway in Asaba, Delta State, when a convoy of seven white DSS Hilux vehicles with the inscription ‘Operation Search and Flush’ attempted to overtake their truck. The time was 5 pm.

“The last bus in the convoy hit their truck. It wanted to overtake the truck. It had not fully overtaken it before it entered the lane of the truck. Their bus rammed the truck and there was an accident,” Bello told FIJ.

DSS’ vehicle after ramming Bello’s truck

Realising the men were armed, Sakiru and his assistant ran away and hid at a distance to observe what the officials would do. Later, some DSS officials alighted and began to shoot at the truck’s tyre.

“Immediately they began to shoot, Sakiru ran to them to plead with the officials, but it did not end well. They beat him and shot him eight times before taking his body to a mortuary in Asaba,” Bello said.

Bello learnt his brother had been killed in Asaba, and on getting there, the Delta State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) revealed to him that the culprits were DSS officials.

However, the body was not found until December 9, when a mortuary attendant called the company Bello’s brother worked for and revealed his body was in their custody.

“When we got there, we saw my brother. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) is aware of the case. The DSS wanted us to take his body without conducting an autopsy because they did not want us to do anything about the case,” Bello told FIJ.

On Saturday, after an autopsy was conducted, Bello was able to take his brother’s corpse from the mortuary on the orders of the IGP.

He said his brother was taken to the morgue as an accident victim. A police report was requested at the morgue, but the DSS officials had none to show. They dropped a name, but could not provide the person’s contact.

“They first took him to the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba, where they removed some bullets from his body before taking him to the mortuary. But yesterday, we saw two bullets in his body after the autopsy,” he said.

Eyewitnesses told Bello that the deceased committed no offence before the DSS officials killed him.

“The area thugs around the vicinity of the incident said the boy did nothing to them before they took their actions against him. The DSS officers also pointed guns at them (the thugs), threatening to shoot them,” he told FIJ.

“A soldier who told me he saw what happened said the officials shot my brother eight times. He could not intervene because he was in mufti. This means they had removed some bullets from him in their hospital.”

Bello further expressed sadness that his brother, who got married on July 21, 2021, did not live long before passing on.

The SCID, Asaba, has petitioned the DSS in Imo State, but no arrest has been made yet.

When FIJ contacted Bright Edafe, Delta State police spokesperson, he said he could not comment as he had limited information.

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