Police officer | File photo
The family of Salim Usman, an Islamic cleric in Kano, has accused the police of torturing him to death while in custody.
Usman, 24, an imam in Kuntau, a community in the Gwale LGA of Kano state, was reportedly arrested on Monday by a police team from the state criminal investigation department (CID) shortly after leading the Maghrib prayer.
The police allegedly linked him to a theft case after a man arrested for stealing a bag of flour last year reportedly named Usman as the buyer.
According to Premium Times, CCTV footage showed two officers—one in uniform and armed, the other in plain clothes—beating Usman after his arrest. Neighbours said the assault, which continued in custody, led to his death.
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Residents who followed him to the police station to challenge the arrest were also allegedly beaten and tortured before being remanded.
Jamilu Haruna, a relative of the deceased, said the cleric died the same day he was taken into custody.
“The police took his remains to the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital as an unidentified person, but the hospital rejected the corpse,” Haruna said.
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“The police subsequently took the corpse to another facility – Abdullahi Wase Hospital, where he was deposited in the mortuary.
“We (the family) had filed a complaint to the police authorities through our counsel, Adamu Abubakar, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
“The police claimed that they have arrested some officers for unprofessional conduct and have commenced an investigation into the incident.
“He was buried on Friday after an autopsy at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and we paid N90,000 for the autopsy.
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“He died on 22 September and was buried on 26 September after an autopsy was approved by the court and the police. We are expecting the autopsy result after four weeks.”
Haruna Kiyawa, police spokesperson in Kano, was not immediately available to comment on the matter when contacted by TheCable at the time of this report.
