By Nkasi Paul Okolie
The Inspector General of Police Mr Kayode Egbetokun has set up panel of inquiry into the tragic incident at the Nigeria Police Academy (POLAC), Wudil, Kano State, where a young cadet, Sulaiman Jika, lost his life in a mysterious circumstance.
The 7-man Panel of Inquiry to unravel the cause of the death of the young man was given four days to conclude investigation into the circumstances that led to his death and report back to him.
The deceased died in a mysterious circumstance on Friday, September 1 .
Some of his colleagues and other parents who have their children in the school,had alleged that Jika died an avoidable death due to the negligence of the management of the academy .
A student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity,told Cornerstonenewsng.com, that the school management,” treat us as slaves .Most of us are too young, and the school authority give us tidious excercises ,and would not allow us to rest as we are made to carry on with our school works . Jika wouldn’t have died if he was taken to a good hospital . The management delayed a lot until we started raising the alarm. Some of us who raised the alarm about the ugly development in the school are being threatened by the management. I learnt that names of the people who visited Jika on the sick bay are being compiled by the school management for punishment”
” We want ot call on the IGP to wade into the matter to save us from more careless deaths. We want the IGP to review the school curriculum ,not to give us too much drilling and expect us to perform our school works after strenuous exercises. Crime is not fought these days with too much strength, but intelligence. The IGP should also caution the school management against intimidation and threats on the students”.
A parent, who expressed serious fears on the gory tales by students , said parents have been inundated with gory tales of how the school management treat their children,” we have heard many gory tales, but we have kept quiet, but since it has reached the issue of careless death, we want to appeal to the IGP to do something drastic about the school. We want him to wade into the matter as some is are willing to withdraw our children from the school”.
However, the IGP on Monday September, 4, 2023, set up a 7-man Panel of Inquiry , headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, DIG Abiodun Alabi, with a mandate to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cadet’s death.
In a statement by Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi,’the IGP has set a deadline of four days for the panel to furnish a comprehensive report detailing its findings and recommendations.
“Other members of the panel include: the AIG Training and Development, AIG Oyeyemi Oyediran; Force Medical Officer, CP Garba Emmanuel Nzukwen; CP Homicide FCID, CP Fom Pam Joseph, CP Training POLAC, CP Patrick Edung; representative of the CP Legal as the secretary, and the Principal Staff Officer II to the IGP, ACP Idris Abubakar.
“Furthermore, the IGP extends his heartfelt condolences and commiserations to the family and relations of Sulaiman Jika, and the academy community, during this trying time, assuring that he is deeply empathetic to their pains and loss; and that the Force would do the needful to ensure justice is done in the case”.
