Parents accuse police of ‘killing’ son

Parents of a 24-yr-old member of vigilante group, one Muhammad Zangina Alabura have accused the Kano Police Command of ‘killing’ their son through torturing. Late Zangina was until his sudden death attached to the Farm Centre GSM market in Kano and he was arrested by the police over alleged missing of mobile phones worth over […]

Parents of a 24-yr-old member of vigilante group, one Muhammad Zangina Alabura have accused the Kano Police Command of ‘killing’ their son through torturing.
Late Zangina was until his sudden death attached to the Farm Centre GSM market in Kano and he was arrested by the police over alleged missing of mobile phones worth over N4m in the market.
The deceased was detained for eight days at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Kano state police command where he was allegedly tortured.
According to his father Alhaji Muhammadu Alabura Kofar Nassarawa said on that fateful day his son was brought home handcuffed by the police who said they had arrested him over the disappearance of some mobile handsets worth over N4m.
“They got into our house, ransacked it and when they found nothing, they took Zangina to Farm Centre Divisional Police Office. He was detained there for some days before he was transferred to the SARS.
“While he was at farm center police station, we were allowed to take food to him and even see him but when he was transferred to the headquarters, we were denied access to him and even when we took food to him, the police would collect it without allowing us to see him,” said Alabura.
The aged father, who cried profusely, revealed that all efforts to have access to his son failed until Tuesday, March 8, 2016 when three policemen came to his house demanding for the sum of N5,000 as bail money.
“It was my neighbor that paid the N5000 demanded by the police and after collecting the money, they informed us that our son was at the emergency section of the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital. We hurriedly went and found him lying unconscious with parts of his body battered. His arm was dangling and dripping blood and his anus was also oozing out blood.
“When I drew closer to him, I looked at his eyes and saw just red color with no any sign of white or black. The eyes were covered with blood. I talked to him but no response. He died the next day. We were told by some patients that when the police took him to the hospital in that condition, they dumped him handcuffed lying on the floor and sneaked out of the hospital. It was a patient that pleaded with them to remove the handcuff since he was in a bad condition,” he said.
Kano Chronicle learnt that Zangina remained under the police custody for eight days after his arrest and was taken to hospital on the eight day and died the next day.
“It was the day they took him to the hospital that they charged him to court, how could they charged him to court after knowing that they have finished with him,” queried Zangina’s father.
The picture of the deceased as observed by our correspondent while at the hospital bed showed an emaciated man with dislodged organs covered in blood.
Commenting, Zangina’s step mother Aisha Alabura said the deceased was a peaceful man and was never caught in any dubious act. “You can ask any person in this ward about Zangina and he will tell you that he was a peaceful and obedient fellow. He started the vigilante work after completing his secondary school. Three years into the work, he was never caught with any offence,” she said.
Asked what action they would take, Zangina’s father who is in his late eighties said he was a poor man who could not draw a battle line with the police, he however appealed to the emir of Kano to ensure that justice was done to his son because according to him, his son was unjustly killed by the police, “My son was not found guilty of any offence, yet he was just an accused person, why should the police tortured him to death?,” he asked.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majiya said the police did not kill the deceased, “The police did not kill him. We don’t kill people. It is a lie that the police collected N5000 bail money from the family of the deceased. All that I know is that we have arrested him and when he fell sick, we took him to the hospital.
“You can even ask the doctor at the hospital and he will confirm to you that we took him to the hospital in good shape.”
Asked why he was not taken to court eight days after his arrest, the police spokesman said: “Who said we did not take him to court? We have charged him to court. I’m not certain about the exact date but will cross check the date he was charged to court and communicate to you later,” he said.