On Saturday, November 18, 2023, policemen attached to the Awolowo market police station in Ogun State arrested 39-year-old Seyi Oduyiga alongside others during a raid.

Six days after this arrest, Oduyiga wound up dead and in a mortuary. The police claimed he was a cultist who went “berserk” in their custody, but photos of the late barber seen by FIJ suggest he was tortured to death.

A relative of Oduyiga who spoke with FIJ anonymously for fear of retribution said one inspector Raji Agbaje led the investigation at Awolowo market police station,.

“On Tuesday, November 21, the police transferred Oduyiga to Eleweran headquarters in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. There, ASP Akinwale took over the investigation,” said the relative.

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“While in their custody, his family was making attempts to bail him, and at no point did the police tell us of any confession or statement he made. The police only said he had tattoos on his body, and that only cultists have tattoos.

“On November 23, his wife and sister wanted to visit him, but the police told them not to come as they would bring him to Sagamu where he lived to search the house. They also told the family they took him to court, but the court did not sit.

“The next day, his sister and mother-in-law visited the station with food for him, but things became strange as no one could account for his whereabouts. They waited from morning till about 3 pm when they were taken upstairs to see the Deputy Commissioner of Police. There, they told the family that he went berserk and was talking to himself and biting his cell mates. They said they took him to a hospital, and he died there.

“The police took his sister to the mortuary to see his body.

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“They never told any of his relatives when he allegedly went berserk, and they never contacted us when he was taken to the hospital. What they showed us was his dead body with torture marks all over him.”

Reacting to the incident, the Ogun State Police Command issued a statement on Sunday morning.

OGUN POLICE COMMAND PRESS RELEASE.
DEATH INCIDENT OF A SUSPECTED CULTIST IN POLICE CELL, OGUN POLICE COMMENCE AUTOPSY.
It is a fact of public knowledge that Sagamu town witnessed a series of cult clashes where 5 rival cultists were murdered.
Following an intelligence report

— Ogun State Police Command (@OgunPoliceNG) November 26, 2023

The state police command alleged that Oduyiga was arrested alongside one Gbenga Adejoke, and they both confessed to being members of Buccaneers and Eiye cult groups, but Oduyiga’s family say this is a lie.

In the issued statement, the police also claimed Oduyiga made a confession to being a cultist, but his family want them to provide a recorded proof of this confession as they believe Oduyiga never made one.

“The police arrested Gbenga with a gun on Monday, and they arrested Oduyiga with another man on Tuesday,” the relative said. “On Wednesday, November 19, the police released the other man arrested alongside Oduyiga, but held on to our brother until we could perfect bail. He was a father of three, and not a cultist.”

Meanwhile, the police have promised to conduct an autopsy to reveal Oduyiga’s true cause of death.

Ojukwu is a reporter with FIJ in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.