Published 27th Nov, 2021

By Yakubu Mohammed

Despite the prolonged sittings of a judicial panel of inquiry set up to address cases of police brutality in Bauchi, police officers attached to Yelwa Division in the state arrested one Dauda Danladi, a 33-year-old phone accessories seller, alongside others, and watched him die after hitting him with a stick.

To exonerate themselves from the murder, the police told the bereaved family that Dauda died of asthma. Subsequently, they conducted a secret autopsy on his body at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBU) without the family’s knowledge.

DAUDA’S ARREST

On the evening of July 8, 2021, police officers stormed Yelwa Tsakani area, Bauchi, arresting several people, including Dauda. While struggling with the police, explaining to them that he had committed no crime, the police smashed a rod on his head and hurled him into their van.

“My brother, Dauda Danladi, was a victim of police brutality, which led to his abrupt death in a very painful way,” Mark Danladi, the deceased’s brother, told FIJ. “The incident happened on the evening of July 8, 2021. Around 8-9 pm, the police came arresting everyone. Unfortunately, they took my brother, despite explaining to them that he had a shop in the area.”

Dauda operated a commercial charging centre in Yelwa Tsakani where he was arrested. Eyewitness accounts agreed with Mark’s narration. A man, who asked not to be named, said, “The police used their sticks to hit him on his head and pushed him into the van. He was unconscious, and they cared not to check on him”.

Another source raided alongside Dauda informed the police officers when they were being conveyed to the station that Dauda had fainted, but one of them said he was pretending.

“The officer hit Dauda again with the stick, hoping he would move, but he did not. When we got to the station, everyone got down, except Dauda. They dragged him out and poured water on him, yet he did not move,” the source said.

HOSPITALISING THE DEAD

After failed efforts to resurrect Dauda, he was taken to the hospital where he would later be announced dead, a family source told FIJ. Thus, Altine, the deceased’s wife, became a widow seven months after getting married. When she learned her husband had been arrested, Altine called his family about 10 pm on July 8, 2021, to inform them, but they told her it was late already.

“We decided to go and bail him the following day, but the police could not give us vital information as to where our brother was,” Mark told FIJ.

The police would not let the family see Dauda. They told them he was sick, and asked his wife to go and bring his medicine. “Meanwhile, he was not on drugs. Altine quickly went home and returned with boiled water, just to see her husband,” Mark said.

When the police could not cope with the situation any longer, they broke the sad news to the family. “He is dead.”

THE SECRET AUTOPSY

After Dauda was confirmed dead, his family contacted their lawyer who advised them to carry out an autopsy on his body to ascertain the cause of his death. But before the family could make a decision, the police had carried out the autopsy behind them.

“Before we could serve the letter to the police, they sent us a letter that we were advised to come and witness an autopsy that would be carried out on our brother’s body. We sent a letter requesting that we wanted to conduct it independently. But in our absence, the police went ahead to conduct the autopsy.”

Five months after, the result of the autopsy remains unknown to the family and the people of Bauchi State. “As of this day, we don’t have the report of the autopsy,” said Mark.

On November 10, 2021, Ahmed Wakil, the Bauchi police spokesman, in a press release, claimed that the police, during a raid at Yelwa Tsakani, received an emergency call about a person who had slumped and was gasping for breath.

“Police rushed to the scene and met the victim who was later identified as Dauda, surname yet unknown, lying unconscious and reasonably suspected to be suffering from an asthma attack. He was quickly taken by the patrol team to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital for medical attention. Unfortunately, he was certified dead by a medical doctor,” the statement reads in part.

However, Dauda’s family refuted the claim, saying the deceased was not sick prior to the incident.

“He was healthy and had no record of asthma as claimed by the police,” Altine, the deceased’s wife, told FIJ.

Following the October 2020 nationwide protest against police brutality, Bala Mohammed, the Governor of Bauchi State, inaugurated a 17-member judicial panel of inquiry to unravel instances of human rights abuses by police officers, especially men of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

FIJ learned that the panel, which ended its sitting in June, is yet to submit its report to the state government.

This report was produced through the ‘You Matter in this Matter’ Project being implemented by YouthHubAfrica, Onelife Initiative, Cedar Seed Foundation and FIJ, with support from Voice Nigeria.

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