A seven-man panel of inquiry constituted by the acting Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has yet to unravel the circumstances that led to the death of a 100-level Course 9 police cadet, Sulaiman Jika, who died on the premises of the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, Abiodun Alabi, who heads the panel, told our correspondent in an interview recently that investigation into the matter was still ongoing.
Sunday PUNCH had reported that Jika dropped dead at POLAC on Saturday, September 2, following a brief illness, which according to his colleagues, was allegedly caused by starvation and malnourishment at the academy.
Following the report, the IG on September 4 instituted the panel with a mandate to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident.
The statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, had partly read, “The IG has set a deadline of four days for the panel to furnish (him with) a comprehensive report detailing its findings and recommendations. Other members of the panel include the AIG Training and Development, AIG Oyeyemi Oyediran; Force Medical Officer, CP Garba Emmanuel Nzukwen; CP Homicide FCID, CP Fom Pam Joseph, CP Training POLAC, CP Patrick Edung; representative of the CP Legal as the secretary, and the Principal Staff Officer II to the IGP, ACP Idris Abubakar.”
However, responding to an inquiry by our correspondent recently, Alabi said, “The matter is still under investigation, and we are yet to conclude our investigation.”
Reacting to the four-day ultimatum given by the IG, Alabi noted, “We are still in Kano, and we are not yet done with the investigation. When we are done with the investigation, definitely, the Force PRO will make it public.”
Some cadets who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity at the time had accused the POLAC leadership of high-handedness and poor feeding at the academy.
A cadet, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being victimised, had told our correspondent that the victim was rushed to the academy’s clinic.
“He was left untreated because there were no drugs and no medical officer to attend to him in the unconducive environment before he gave up the ghost,” the source added.
