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09.07.2021 Social Justice Livinus Onyekaba (Feb 12, 1962 — July 4, 2021). Tortured to Death by Lagos Police

Published 9th Jul, 2021

By Adeola Oladipupo

Olivier Onyekaba was initially displeased that her father, Livinus Onyekaba, did not call on her birthday. But it was not intentional; he had been arrested, detained and allegedly tortured by the Police. Days after he was released unconscious, he died.

On June 28, Amadi was invited by his longtime work partner Livinus to join him in executing a contract he had received from Remilekun Yusuf to remove and sell fittings in an old building at Okokomaiko in Lagos before demolishing it.

“That is how they work. When one person gets a job, he calls the other. So he invited my husband for this job and they agreed to go to the site on the next day,” said Mrs Joy Onyekaba.

“According to Amadi, they made the agreement with the owner (Yusuf) that when they lose and sell all the things like windows, burglar proof, doors and ceiling, they would give him the money, being the owner of the house. He told my husband to do the work fast because work would begin on the site soon.”

One million naira was made from the sale of the fittings and paid first into Livinus’s bank account before it was transferred into Yusuf’s and the agreement was that he would pay Livinus and Amadi when the job was done, Livinus’s wife said.

When the demolition began, officers from Okokomaiko Police Station suddenly arrived, demanding to see the person in charge of the project.

“According to the police officers, they asked who was the boss for the work, Amadi pointed to my husband and said ‘see my oga, he collected the work’, instead of telling them that he collected the contract. My husband thought it was a minor issue, not knowing it would take his life,” Joy said.

The Police arrested and detained Livinus, Amadi and the security guard of the property at Okokomaiko Police Station. Livinus was charged with trespassing private property and held for 12 days without being charged to court. He was later transferred from Okoko to Police State Command at Ikeja. 

Livinus, a general contractor, never started a job without signing documents, his daughter, Olivier told FIJ. But the signed document is believed to be kept in a tool bag locked in the building where he was arrested, and his phone containing proof of payment to Remilekun is held by the Police.

“Despite the security guard attesting that Yusuf owns the property, the police said no, that it was one family. They could not give the name of the family or a representative or produce a complainant,” Olivier said. 

Remilekun’s phone was switched off when FIJ called him. A text message to him was not replied. 

When FIJ contacted Amadi through his wife, Nkechi, as her husband’s phone was with the police, she declined the request to talk to him directly but admitted that her husband got the contract and invited Livinus. She refused to answer further questions.

N100,000 FOR TRACKING, N150,000 TO BAIL A SICK AND UNCONSCIOUS DETAINEE

When Livinus’s health began deteriorating, he was not immediately released to get medical care. He was detained for about two weeks without being charged to court. 

The deceased’s brother, Ikechukwu Onyekaba, told FIJ that despite the police at the State Command demanding and receiving N100,000 through the family’s lawyer, Baron Ejike Igwe, to track Yusuf who had disappeared, they failed to apprehend him.

“I paid N100,000 for tracking Remilekun and N150,000 for bailing my brother from the police directly to our lawyer,” Ikechukwu said. 

He told FIJ that he was shown his brother’s unconscious body after the family’s lawyer had paid the N150,000 bail to police officers at the state command.

“The lawyer told me to follow him to Cottage Hospital at Area F Ikeja where I saw doctors surrounding my brother. I even confronted the lawyer that he did not see the person he was bailing but was quick to collect money from me. After signing, he took me to the hospital,” Ikechukwu said.

Barrister Igwe neither answered FIJ’s calls nor responded to a text message asking him whether he gave the police the sum of N250,000. 

The state of Livinus’s body suggested to his family that he was made to undergo inhumane treatments at the Police Headquarters in Lagos.

Livinus Onyekaba’s death certificate

Livinus’s death certificate seen by FIJ revealed that his head was swollen and bruised, indicating that he was physically assaulted in police custody. Doctor’s examination also showed that he was bleeding from the nose and his head was stiff. He passed on at 6am with brain death stated as the likely cause of death.

My mother said that from the moment they released him on July 1, he did not open his eyes or say a word till he passed on four days later,” Olivier said.

Muyiwa Adejobi, Public Relations Officer of the Lagos Police Command, confirmed that Livinus was moved to the state command but the Onyekaba’s family insisted on taking him to another hospital, ignoring advice from doctors at the police hospital.

“The allegation of extortion cannot be proved because none of them sent money to the police. They should go and find out from their lawyer who is extorting them because something could have happened to the money,” Adejobi said.

“He (Livinus) demolished a whole building and picked some items to go and sell and paid money to the person he said gave him the job to do. It is very funny. If you give a job to someone, you are the one to pay. After doing the job, he transferred the same money to the person who gave him the job; something is wrong somewhere.”

Adejobi denied claims by the family that there was no complainant. He said the police received a petition and that the complainant appeared to defend it.

He also refuted the allegation of torture and explained that the family did not allow the police to examine the body before taking the corpse away.

“My dad was the one taking care of us as my mother’s business is not doing well,” Olivier said, almost crying. “Now that he is gone, I know that paying my siblings’ school fees will be difficult for my mother to handle alone. If I had graduated, I would be able to help.”

“He died in their custody and they released his corpse on bail to my mother. I believe that the police killed him and we want justice.”

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Published 9th Jul, 2021

By Adeola Oladipupo

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