By Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin
TONGUES are still wagging in Ilorin, capital city of Kwara State,over the mysterious death of Ayantunde Ayantoye, a renowned radio and television set repairer who was allegedly arrested by a team of police officers in his shop, around Airport road, adjacent to Aviation International College, penultimate Monday. He was reportedly shot dead along the way.

Investigations by Crime Alert revealed that one Titi, a girl friend of a police officer allegedly gave a television set to the deceased for repair, and that Ayantunde met his death  penultimate Monday when he told Titi to come and take her television.

*Late Ayatunde Ayantoye and the Kwara State Police Commisioner Mr Peter Gana

Trouble reportedly started when the deceased failed to repair the said television on the appointed date and pleaded with Titi, the female friend of a police officer for more days, citing domestic problems as reason for the delay. Already Titi had reportedly completed payment of N2,000 they agreed for the repair of the said television set.

Eye witness account said that all the pleas by the deceased for Titi to come back later for the television set fell on the deaf ears as she reportedly rained abuses on the deceased and went away in anger, only to later return to the shop with  two male police officers identified as Ige and Dokun, she allegedly recruited from the Police headquarters to arrest the deceased.

Chartered taxi cab

The account further said the deceased who was promptly bundled into a chartered taxi cab and sandwiched amidst the two officers to the headquarters was trailed by one of the neighbours who was around when the deceased was taken away from the shop.

Crime Alert gathered that while inside the taxi cab, the deceased, in order not to be taken to the police station and be detained, pleaded profusely for leniency and offered Titi N1,800 he had on him, with the promise that he would give her the balance before the end of the day.

Altercations reportedly ensued between the deceased and the team of police officers who still insisted that he must be taken to the police station and detained in spite of collecting the said money from him. Investigation, however, revealed that the deceased was allegedly killed by accidental discharge from the gun of one of the officers while inside the taxi cab.

Ayanrombi Ayantunde, younger brother of the deceased told Crime Alert in an interview that the family was informed of the incident in the afternoon of that day by the neighbours who followed the team to the police station when his brother refused to return home from shop.

He said: “Immediately we went to the police headquarters, we were being tossed here and there until someone called us aside and asked us to go and check him at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, that he saw someone already dead being taken there. We went to the emergency unit, but he was not there. We later found the dead body deposited at the mortuary.”

The remains of the deceased who was to be buried last week Wednesday was not released to the family by the police authorities who reportedly said they were carrying out investigations on his death.

The body of the victim, aged 41, was later released to members of his family. He was survived survived by aged parents, wife and four children. The body was reportedly buried on Monday amidst tears and wailing in Odo-Oba, his home town, a village after Ogbomosho in Surulere local government area of Oyo state.

Kwara State Police commissioner, Mr Peter Gana while responding to the development explained that the deceased was sighted along Airport road, Ilorin by police officers and was asked to stop but he refused adding that, the police officers later saw him with gun shot wounds in the area.

The police boss who insisted that the deceased was not shot by the officers, neither was he killed by his officers stressed that the command has commenced full investigation into the incident.