Fresh documentary evidence has thrown up serious questions over the circumstances surrounding the death of 30-year-old Al-Amin Mohammed, who died days after his release from the Agodi Custodial Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Al-Amin, an aluminium fixer and polytechnic student in Kwara State, reportedly died on September 17 after ingesting a poisonous substance, three days after his parents secured his release from custody.
The latest development follows a report by PUNCH, which OrijoReporter obtained and reviewed, detailing a police denial that Al-Amin was arrested and prosecuted over an outstanding N8,000 debt.
The Oyo State Police Command insisted that the young man was prosecuted for assault and malicious damage and not because of the debt.
But a copy of the charge sheet cited in the report appears to conflict with key aspects of that explanation.
According to the document, with charge number OY/CCGA/MAP/184C/26, Al-Amin was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Oyo State, Ibadan Magisterial District, on two counts.
The first count reportedly alleged conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, rather than assault as stated by the police.
Even more strikingly, the second count reportedly mentioned both an allegedly damaged Android Itel phone valued at N177,000 and an N8,000 debt.
The charge sheet was quoted as stating that Al-Amin allegedly “did maliciously damage an Android itel phone valued at N177,000.00 only and another N8,000 only debt,” property of Mukaila Kazeem.
The document also reportedly named Inspectors Adeboye Olaide and Akinteye Muinat as the investigating officers.
This is at odds with the police account that the disputed N8,000 was merely part of an earlier financial transaction and did not form the basis of the criminal case.
The command had also said Al-Amin damaged an Airtel SIM-registration machine valued at N177,000. The charge sheet, however, reportedly described the allegedly damaged item as an Android Itel phone.
HOW N8,000 DISPUTE TURNED INTO COURT CASE
The controversy stems from a transaction in which Al-Amin reportedly collected N23,000 from a Point-of-Sale operator, Kazeem Mukaila.
He allegedly repaid N15,000, leaving N8,000 outstanding.
According to the earlier account, Kazeem’s apprentice, identified as Iya Ajike, later seized Al-Amin’s phone over the unpaid balance.
Al-Amin reportedly returned to retrieve the phone, saying he was prepared to transfer the outstanding N8,000.
A struggle allegedly followed, after which the matter passed through community members and a vigilante group before Al-Amin was taken to the Sanyo Police Division.
The family alleged that efforts to settle the matter at the station failed and that they were asked to provide N100,000 for bail, alongside another N70,000 allegedly demanded in connection with the damaged phone.
Al-Amin reportedly denied damaging the phone.
He was subsequently taken to court, where he was granted bail of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Unable to immediately meet the conditions, he was remanded at Agodi Custodial Centre for four days before his parents eventually stood as sureties and secured his release on September 14.
‘HE COULD NOT BEAR THE HUMILIATION’
According to the earlier report, Al-Amin’s mother, Simiat Mohammed, said her son changed dramatically after returning home.
She said he barely ate, withdrew from people and repeatedly complained about being detained, taken to court and sent to prison over an allegation he insisted he did not commit.
His family also said he recorded a voice note expressing frustration and asking his siblings to take care of their mother.
Three days after leaving custody, he reportedly ingested rat poison at his residence.
His father, Habeeb Mohammed, said the family rushed him to several hospitals before he was eventually taken to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where he was pronounced dead.
The bereaved father has accused the police of mishandling the matter and called for an investigation into the officers at Sanyo Police Division, particularly the Divisional Crime Officer.
POLICE: ‘N8,000 WAS NOT THE CHARGE’
The police command, in its response, maintained that the case arose after Al-Amin allegedly assaulted Iya Ajike and damaged an Airtel SIM-registration machine during the September 8 confrontation.
It said community and vigilante efforts to resolve the dispute failed before the matter was taken to the police.
The command maintained that the criminal case was based on assault and malicious damage, while Al-Amin’s inability to meet his bail conditions was responsible for his subsequent remand.
But the documentary discrepancy has shifted attention to the actual wording of the charge sheet.
Human-rights campaigners have questioned why the N8,000 appeared in the second count if the debt played no role in the criminal proceedings.
They also questioned why the police described the allegation as assault and referred to a SIM-registration machine when the charge sheet reportedly used different descriptions.
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said the central issue was whether criminal proceedings were used, directly or indirectly, to enforce a private financial obligation.
He referred to Section 32(2) of the Police Act 2020, which he said prohibits arrest merely over a civil wrong or breach of contract, and called for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the case.
For the Mohammed family, the tragedy remains the death of a young man who entered into an N23,000 transaction, left an N8,000 balance, passed through police custody and prison remand, and died only days after regaining his freedom.
The conflicting accounts of what exactly formed the basis of his prosecution are now likely to remain central to calls for an independent probe.
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