A Remo Stars Football Club player, Tiyamu Kazeem, (popularly known as Kaka) on Saturday died in the custody of officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ogun State.
He was alleged to have been pushed out of the officers’ van onto an oncoming speeding car by one of them.
The Media Officer of the club, Dimeji Oshode, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, saying the incident occurred on Saturday along Sagamu while Kazeem was in his car with one of his teammates, Sanni Abubakar.
He said some SARS men flagged down the footballer and labelled him an Internet fraudster, aka Yahoo boy and insisted on taking him to a nearby police station.
The statement read, “The SARS officers stopped Tiyamiyu Kazeem insisting that he was a Yahoo Boy. He brought out his identity card to identify himself as a player of Remo Stars FC but the officer insisted on taking him to the nearest police station in Sagamu.
“Kazeem and Sanni followed the SARS officers, only for them to notice that they (the SARS men) were driving towards Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway. The guys asked to know where the SARS officers were taking them to, but this prompted them to stop the car and pushed Kazeem out of the car, and an oncoming vehicle knocked him down.”
He said the player was rushed to Fakoya Hospital in Sagamu, where he was confirmed dead.
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Until his death, he was the assistant captain and defender of the football team.
“He was a humble and reliable defender for Remo Stars FC in the ongoing 2019/2020 Nigeria National League.
“May his soul rest in perfect peace and may the Lord help the family to bear the irreparable loss. This is a great loss to Remo Stars Family and the entire football fraternity,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Police Command in their own account said the player was crushed to death while escaping from a police vehicle conveying him to Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the player was arrested by a police inspector from the Zonal Intervention Squad for wearing a military cap and was being taken to the ZIS office in Obada in a police operational vehicle.
He said the vehicle developed a fault on the road and was being fixed when Kazeem jumped out and in an attempt to cross to the other side of the express he was knocked down by an oncoming vehicle.
“The fact of the matter is that an Inspector of police from ZIS went to arrest the deceased for putting on a military cap.
“On their way to Abeokuta, the vehicle developed a mechanical fault and while trying to rectify it, the man jumped down and took to his heels. While crossing the road, a fast moving, oncoming vehicle crushed him to death,” the Police PRO said.
He said that the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had given directive for the arrest of the inspector involved for investigation to ascertain the level of unprofessionalism exhibited in his conduct towards the victim and recommend appropriate disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, on hearing the news of the incident and Kazeem’s death, angry residents took to the streets in protest.
The aggrieved youths marched to the palace of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, chanting anti-SARS slogans and demanding sanctions for the ‘killer’ cop.
