Police tortured my son in my presence — Dad of late kidnap suspect

By UMAR MOHAMMED

Mallam Abubakar Rago, the Madakin Fulani and Chairman of Miyyeti Allah Kautal Hore in Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, has accused the state’s police command of torturing his son, Ismaila Rago, to death.

Mallam Rago said, “The police tortured my son in my presence while in their custody. I want to use this medium to call on the state government to intervene into the matter to ensure that my late son gets justice.”

Earlier, the Madakin Fulani was arrested in place of his son who was wanted over series of kidnapping incidents in the state, and the son thereafter surrendered himself at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nasarawa State Police Command on April 21, 2021.

Aso Chronicle gathered that Ismaila died a week later in police custody, and the police, through the command’s spokesperson, ASP Rahnman Nansel, claimed the late Ismaila was a notorious kidnapper and that he died in the police clinic of Hepatitis B.

Refutes police allegation against son

However, Mallam Rago also refuted the claim by the police that his late son was a notorious kidnapper and that he never never complained of such sickness in his lifetime.

Mallam Rago said, “My son had never committed such an offence, but he was taken to the police and tortured to death.

“I was arrested and detained by the police for two weeks, and when my son was eventually arrested, I had to pay N100,000 before I was released.

“My son never had any such sickness of hepatitis as claimed by the police.”

Counsel to Mallam Rago’s family, Aligbo Sunday, said the family wanted justice for the deceased Ismaila.

He said information they got initially from the police was that Ismaila died while receiving treatment in the hospital, but that, “We finally found out from the doctor that Ismaila was brought in dead and no form of treatment was given to him in the hospital.

“In the course of examining the corpse, we discovered that Ismaila was tortured because he was bleeding from his legs.”

He also said he expected the police to have charged the suspect to court after diligent investigation.

Police denies killing of suspect

Meanwhile, ASP Nansel denied the allegation that Ismaila died from police brutality, describing the allegation as unfounded and “concocted lies.”

He explain that, “We don’t torture suspects that give us information voluntarily. We have arrested up to six suspects while other gangs are still at large.”

He said the late Ismaila was a notorious kidnapper and that he had been on the wanted list of the police.

“On April 21, 2021 one Ismaila Abubakar-Rabo, a notorious kidnapper that has been on the wanted list of Nasarawa state police command was arrested in connection to series of kidnapping incidences in Eggon local government area and its environs,” he said.

According to him, the deceased was a member of the eight man kidnapping syndicate that has been on the wanted list of the command. (Daily Trust)