A 24 years old upcoming music artist, identified as Paul Obukowho who was said to have been arrested and tortured by the men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Delta State Police Command, Asaba, has died, SaharaReporters has learnt.
According to police sources, one Prosper Odili, aged 19 years, was arrested randomly by operatives of RRS, on Wednesday along the Redeemed road Okpanam road, Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state at about 8:00am. He was taken to his house for a search after which he was taken to the cell at the police headquarters, Asaba.
“Prosper Odili was actually walking in company of a friend on Wednesday morning around 8am when men of the RRS, former SARS from police headquarters in Asaba, along the Redeemed road, Okpanam accosted and arrested them unjustly without committing any crime. The police then took the two men back to their houses for a search and after the search, nothing incriminating was found and at that point the police released one of the boys and took Prosper away and put him in the cell at the police headquarters.
“And that very day at about 5pm, the deceased Paul Obukowho went to the RRS office at the state Police command to find out what happened to warrant the arrest of his friend, Prosper and possibly find a way to bail him.
“But shockingly, as Paul got there, he was detained, handcuffed on both hands and legs and was thrown into the cell with severe torture. On Thursday night, Paul collapsed in the cell and was rushed to the police clinic, resulting from the wounds from the torture, the clinic could not handle his situation, he was referred to Specialist Hospital Asaba.
“Finally, he was referred to the Federal Medical Center, FMC Asaba, but, unfortunately for Paul, he couldn’t survive the pains and wounds from the police torture in the cell, he died. Paul died in the early hours of Saturday, at about 4:00am at the FMC, Asaba. And immediately, Paul died the men of the RRS who brought him to the hospital took to their heels and ran away from the hospital premises.”, a source familiar with the case narrated.
As at the time of this report, Paul’s corpse was still lying on the floor at the FMC Asaba, with relatives and friends surrounding it, lamenting and calling for justice.
Calls and message to the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Bright Edafe, were not responded to as of the time of this report.
SaharaReporters
