By Ibrahim Adam

Rights group, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and Masses Education Against Crime Initiative (MEACI) have called for the release of a truck driver Jelili Ismaila and his assistants Bankole Amidu, Elijah Samson, and Moses Proboye over the death of a police constable.

The constable was allegedly beaten to death by hoodlums on September 13 in Sango, Ogun State.

Police picked up Ismaila, 22; Amidu Bankole, 34; Elijah Samson, 36; and Moses Proboye, 34, in connection with the incident.

The groups said that the arrested suspects are innocent of the charges, and should be released forthwith.

CLO and MEACI said they visited the incident scene and had information which contradicted police claim that the arrested men beat up and killed the constable.

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The groups said the four men are not hoodlums who beat up the policeman.

Enitan said in a statement that what they saw at the scene of the incident was a different version of the police claim, and bore “little similarity” to what “we heard from the police compared to what we were told at the scene of the incident”.

Enitan said the dead policeman, an escort to a senior officer, was travelling with his boss in a car on the day of the incident.

He added that the police car was speeding amid blaring sirens and nearly hit the truck which the four suspects were riding in.

Enitan said Ismail, the truck driver, swerved from side to side in order to avoid a collision with the police car, and had a punctured tyre in the process.

Ismaila reportedly demanded that the policemen replace the burst tyre.

In the ensuing confusion, hoodlums called Omotaku attacked the police escort, beating him to death, Enitan said, adding that they have written to the police commissioner in the state, asking him to look into the matter and free the arrested suspects because they did not kill the constable.