Funke Busari
A farmer based in Ogun, Mr. Oluwaseun Adegoke is accusing the police of killing one of his staff, Shola Adeleke, in custody.
The farmer who is the Managing Director of Skapomah Global Limited, said one of his farm’s guards died in police custody in circumstances the police could not explain following investigation into a suspected case of murder.
He also alleged that one of his detained staff was yet to be released and he was not sure whether he is still with the police.
On Monday Mr. Adegoke had narrated that one of his farm guards died in police custody.
He made the allegations in a statement titled: THREAT TO LIFE, CONSPIRACY, SUSPECTED POLICE MURDER AND ATTEMPT TO COVER UP as reproduced below:
I am Seun Adegoke, Managing Director of SKAPOMAH GLOBAL LIMITED, I am a farmer and we currently have amongst others a 5,000 acres farmland in Ipaya, Yewa North, Ogun State.
This is to let the world know the brutality and injustice being meted on me, my staff and our organization; SKAPOMAH GLOBAL LIMITED.
On 22nd of May, 2021, I received a phone call from the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, of Ayetoro Police Station, Yewa North Local Government, Ogun State, Mr Olusesi.
On phone he told me a corpse of a Fulani man was found around the area where we have our farm in Ipaya village, off Anigbado, Yewa North.
I asked him if the said corpse was found on our farm which he said No. However, considering it is a suspected murder case, he would like my workers to come in for possible questioning to help enhance police investigation.
As a law abiding Nigerian with massive investments in the area I immediately summoned my farm managers and security team to report and support the police investigation in any way. I must state that the police never came to arrest anyone. I told them to report to the station to support police efforts. Little did I know this would be the worst decision I would ever make.
On arrival at the station, my farm manager gave a statement and the police asked him to come back the next day with all members of the security team.
To our surprise, our security men were detained upon arrival the next day and subsequently asked to make statement, the farm manager was asked to leave the questioning room by one Ahmed Abdullahi; a Fulani man who happens to be the investigating police officer, I.P.O. who was questioning my men and also writing the statement for them, he wrote that they said we gave them guns to secure the farm as against sticks which they told him. This was a red flag and I immediately asked my lawyers to come in.
Those detained that day are OLAITAN OLUWASEUN JIMOH IBRAHIM, WASIU ADESHINA, SHOLA ADELEKE and HAKEEM ELEGBEDE.
To my surprise, the police sensing they had no case as all the complainants they paraded couldn’t identify any of my security men as the supposed attackers, claimed they would need to transfer the case to the state homicide department in Eleweran Abeokuta. Our men were taken to Abeokuta for possible further investigation and on arrival were about to be released when the IPO Ahmed Abdullahi, a Fulani man, insisted they must not be granted bail.
Rather he claimed they must be tortured to confess to an offence they knew nothing about. These are men who resumed job a week earlier on 16th of May, 2021. Before the arrival of these team we had lost crops worth other N50m to cow destruction and grazing. Isn’t it obvious that this hurriedly cooked up story was because they knew they couldn’t further destroy our investments hence the need to blackmail us and force us out of our business?.
To my surprise, on the 28th of May, 2021, I got a distress call that one of our security men Mr Shola Adeleke had died in police custody in circumstances the police couldn’t explain.
Upon his death, the police hurriedly released 3 members of our security team. My question is if truly there was ever a murder charge, why would the police release the suspects same day one of them died? It is obvious they feel guilty and already knew they have bitten more than they can chew.
The world should however know today that ever since we established our 5,000 acres farm in the community the Fulani herders have always confronted us and at various times promised to attack us for daring to set up such massive farm which they believe makes it impossible for their cows to graze.
Often times, the Seriki Fulani of Kara, has always bragged that they would have attacked us if not because we have Fulani men amongst our staff.
The game plan has always been the same script, get the farmer arrested under the accusations of murder, get the farmer locked up and detained for months by which time the farmers crops would have been destroyed and nothing to come back to. This pattern has happened not once or twice in the area.
We have demanded from the police to produce the so called corpse found around the farm and till date nothing has been produced as they claimed the dead has been buried. How do you bury evidence in a murder case and claim to be investigating?? The world needs to know today the level of conspiracy is unimaginable. This has become the modus operanndi and script always being played out by the police and this marauders.
Example of such was the arrest of Mr. Akanbi A.K.A rewire…locking him up for more than 6 months on trumped up charges ultimately leading to his sad death 2 months after leaving police custody due to possibly phycological effects of his detention and mounting debts occasioned by the destruction of his farm and livelihood while he was in detention.
I will also love to say this loud and clear that should anything happen to myself or my team on the farm, the Seriki Fulani (Jagodo), the divisional police officer, DPO,; Mr Olusesi, the IPO Ahmed Abdulahi should all be held responsible.
Information reaching me is that the Fulani herders have placed a bounty on my life and that of my farm leadership and as such I can no longer visit the farm. Due to loss of confidence in the credibility of the police to be fair and just, my workers have been abandoning the farm further exposing our investment to more damage and destruction. There is a grand conspiracy to either lock us up or blackmail us so their cows can have a field day.
To heighten our suspicion, the police upon visiting the farm to show us the location where they claimed to have found this so called corpse could only ask and I quote “how could you have such a big farm here and the police isn’t aware”.
My question is when does it become a crime to have a big farm and when has the police become a regulatory agency for farmers?
To make matters worse, information getting to me this morning is that the Seriki Fulani of Kara has informed some of our agents who recruited staff for us to ask their staff to vacate the farm as they are planning something BIG.
As law abiding citizens we shall use every legal means available to us to fight this injustice. Shola Adeleke and many others before him will not die in vain. Shola only came to earn a living, he has a wife and family and also parents who are hoping for his return while he lies cold in the mortuary.
Responding to the allegation, the Ogun State Police Command Spokesperson, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi disclosed to CASEFILE when contacted that the deceased who was mentioned during investigation took ill and died at the hospital.
According to him other staff who were not directly linked to the incident were released.
Oyeyemi explained that the deceased was arrested by the police for a case of murder.
He said, “The deceased was arrested in connection with a murder case of a guy who was found dead on their farm and himself and one other were directly accused of being one of those who abducted the guy whose dead body was later recovered.
“So, he was arrested alongside four others and they were transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Homicide Section on Wednesday.
“So in the course of investigation he took Ill on Thursday night and he was taken to the hospital and he died in the hospital.
“He was not the only suspect that was arrested.
“They were all the three in the same cell, he took ill and he was taken to the hospital.
“The remaining suspect is in custody because the one that is in custody and the deceased, they are the ones that were directly accused by the people who said he died.
“He is one of those who abducted the boy and the dead body of the boy was later found about three days after.
“So, the other three who are said not to have been on duty on that very day were released.
“The one in custody even has mentioned the name of another five people who were involved in the case and we are still going to arrest those ones.
