Petition to IG over Police’s killing of Yakubu Lawal in Kano

We, the members of the family of Malam Lawal Bala, hereby submit our complaint against the killing of our brother “Yakubu Lawal” by the SARS Department of Kano State Police Command to your office for proper investigation into the case.

The deceased “Yakubu Lawal” was an indigene of Dankumeji village of Kankara local government area, Katsina state. He was married with one child, living at Yakasai Quarters in Kano Metropolitan. Prior to his death, he used to visit his parents and family in the village, where they live.

On April 25, 2020, equivalent to 2nd day of Ramadan, 1441 the deceased Yakubu Lawal was arrested along with Ibrahim Inuwa by the police as a result of a complaint lodged by Alhaji Auwalu Dan-clearing (a clearing agent) of Kantin Kwari Market at the police station for alleged breach of trust. The deceased and Ibrahim Inuwa were taken to the Motor Traffic Division of Kano State Police Command (known as MTD Police Division) adjacent to Gidan Murtala in Kano metropolitan around 11:00am.

However, some hours thereafter, the SARS officials came to the Motor Traffic Police Division with their vehicle and subsequently took the deceased and Ibrahim Inuwa to their office at Kano State Police Headquarters in Bompai, Nassarawa local government area, Kano state.

The complaint by the nominal complainant (i.e Alhaji Auwalu Dan-clearing) to the MTD Police Division was that he gave the deceased and Ibrahim Inuwa some clothes belonging to his boss to keep for him. When he came to collect his property, he found that three bundles were missing, that was the basis of complaint to the police which warranted the arrest and detention of the deceased.

Sir, we didn’t hear the news of the arrest of our brother until sometime in May 2020 because of the lockdown in Kano and other parts of the country. When we heard the news, we went to Kano State Police Headquarters in Bompai to inquire the reason of arrest and detention of the deceased but the police officers told us that the Yakubu Lawal was dead, adding that they arrested him in connection with armed robbery and that they will not release his corpse for burial. They requested us to write an application for passionate appeal to the commissioner of police of the command for the release of the corpse of our brother.

Sir, to our knowledge, there was no case of armed robbery in Kano state from the time the government imposed lockdown in the state up to the period when the corpse of the deceased was deposited in a mortuary.

Finally, on May 20, 2020, the police had taken the corpse of Yakubu Lawal to the mortuary of Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Sabon Titi, Kofar Mata Road in Kano metropolitan. The corpse is still in the mortuary.

It is in the light of the above, we respectfully entreat you to kindly issue the following reliefs:-

1.      To order for the immediate investigation of extra-judicial Killing of our brother “Yakubu Lawal” by the SARS of Kano State Police Command.

2.      To order for the immediate release of the corpse of our brother “Yakubu Lawal” for burial according to Islamic rites.

3.      To arraign the police officers who perpetrated the killing of our brother before a court of competent jurisdiction to face the full wrath of the law in order to serve as deterrence to other officers who intend to do the same in the future.

4.      To issue a public apology in the national dailies for linking our brother with the criminal offence of armed robbery in order to clear the bad name given to him. We believe that, in an ideal situation, our late brother should have been given the chance/freedom to clear himself while he was alive. This is because failure to issue apology in the national dailies may plunge the only surviving son of the deceased person into psychological trauma. When this child grows up considering the environment and society, he came from, this may deprive him many life benefits like;getting married from a decent family and, so on.

5.      Any other remedies/reliefs as you may deem fit to make in the circumstances of the case.

We look forward to seeing your urgent positive response, please.

Thank you.

Sani Abubakar Dankumeji

on behalf of the family 

[email protected]

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