Family kicks as Osun cops allegedly shoot tailor dead

A thorough inquiry into the circumstances surrounding how 29-year-old tailor Quadri Nurudeen was reportedly shot and killed by certain members of the Osun State Command of the Nigerian Police Force has been ordered by Nurudeen’s family, who are based in Osogbo, Osun State.

The deceased, a father of a toddler, is believed to have been slain while attempting to flee from police when they raided his home in the early hours of Wednesday in the Jaleoyemi Area of Osogbo.

Islamiyah Omowumi, a relative of the dead, told our correspondent that men from the Osun State Police Command’s Anti-Cultism Unit had entered the deceased’s home while wearing masks and handcuffing a guy they considered to be a suspect.

She claims that when the cops instructed her to show them where Nurudeen lived, the deceased’s landlady was still questioning them over their goal.

According to Nurudeen’s wife, “They (the cops) just walked right to the door of the room where the deceased was residing with his wife and their eight-month-old child and started kicking it. Nurudeen’s wife then unlocked the door for them.

“My brother jumped through the window into the adjacent complex out of panic, but the police shot him in the chest as he did so, and he fell. They took his phone and his wife’s phone before departing. When the police departed, he was still alive. When the police returned and saw he was lying, one of his neighbors was attempting to convince people to assist us in carrying him. The police then hauled him away in their car.

“When day broke, we looked everywhere for him before deciding to check the UniOsun Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, mortuary, where we discovered him lying dead. Apparently, some police officers brought him and left their contact information.

“We found out the phone number belonged to a member of the Osun Police Anti-Cultism Unit when we contacted the morgue’s number. When we entered their office, they fired into the air to scatter us. Justice must be served for Nurudeen. He shouldn’t pass away in vain. Omowumi recommended that the police track down and punish those responsible for his death.

When contacted, the Osun Police Command Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, stated that the deceased was believed to have been involved in criminal activity and that the police had gone to his house to make an arrest in order to conduct a proper investigation when he tried to flee.