By Evelyn Usman

IG orders investigations

For five weeks, the tragic end of a businessman who reportedly died inside the Ikeja police division  cell has  been a running story with emerging twists and untold  angles unfolding by the day.

Ademola Adedeji  was a distributor with Rites Food Ltd, located in Ikeja area of Lagos. His unprepared journey to the land of no return began on February 9, 2012, when, as usual, he left his Mowe ,Ogun State abode for Rites Foods Limited to purchase goods worth N400,000 , only to be arrested and taken to the Ikeja police division, following a debt of N10 million which the company claimed the father of three owed it.

However, the development took a rather tragic twist next day, following news of his demise,under questionable circumstances, as his widow, Cecilia, said her husband left home hale and hearty. His death has generated  hues and cries from different quarters ,without  answer to the question of what exactly happened between the hours of 9p.m. and the next day.

*The mother...died of shock

But a likely answer to the question seems  underway, as the acting Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, has ordered that investigations be carried out to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of  39-year-old  Adedeji.

As first step, the IG has assigned officers from his monitoring unit to visit the widow and get a first hand interview as to when the deceased left  home, the state she met him at the station and the point she was informed of his death. The investigative officers, as gathered, are also expected to find out the role of policemen at the Ikeja station and whether the deceased ate any food in the course of his detention.

Sunday Vanguard reliably gathered that policemen on duty that night have been quizzed and the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Charles Uwabuoku, who has retired from the police , would also be invited for questioning.

Adedeji’s widow, who has ceaseless demanded  for justice through her lawyer, Chief Lanre Adeniyi,   described the circumstances surrounding the death of her husband  as a “criminal conspiracy, unlawful abduction, detention, torture and brutal murder”.

The widow  is yet to come to terms  with the reality of her husband’s  demise, a development that has saddled her with the responsibility of catering for their three children: Temiloluwa (7), Mojolaoluwa (5) and Christiana (1).

Narrating her story, she said:”On that fateful Thursday, February 9, 2012, my husband left home to collect goods he wanted to sell from Rites Foods, the maker of Bigi sausage rolls. Later, he called  to inform me that the company had asked for his arrest  because  they claimed he  owed them N10 million.

Quickly I went to meet him there and he told me he had written an undertaken on how to pay the money.  He sounded confused on how the company came about the amount but he agreed to pay . “However, the IPO said he would not release my husband to us until the chief security officer (CSO) of the company, who insisted my husband must pay at least N1 million before he could be released ,approves the undertaking.

So, we had to wait till the evening. But when the CSO came, my husband and the rest of us went in together. The CSO said that Ademola should be released to us so that he would go and sell some goods and make some payment.

“But after that discussion, the CSO and the Inspector went inside and had another discussion which was not known to us. When they came out, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) said that my husband would  not be released until he paid N1 million.

“One of his friends even told the policemen that  if they locked Ademola up, they would still need to release  him so that he could work to be able to pay.  One of his friends volunteered to offer his car worth  over N1.5m just for them to release him to us that night and we would provide him the following morning. Eventually, we left the place around 9.00 pm.”

Cecilia narrated further: “But the following day,  I didn’t know anything had happened until the evening  when one of the staff members just called and said they heard my husband was dead. My husband drove to work on that day and was very strong. He had no history of illness, he was only 39 years  old.

“Since then, nobody from the company  has visited us. In fact, the bus he took to the company on that day  to collect goods was seized by the company and it is still there fully loaded at Right Foods, Opebi.”

The widow is not the only one shattered by the demise of  Adedeji. The  parents are  more devastated as his 86-year-old mother who, apparently could not bear the agony of losing a child, passed on following   what many described as shock.

The news as gathered, was kept from the aged folks until March 5, only for the fears of the family  to be confirmed two days later following Mrs Florence Adedeji’s death at their Ilesha home town in Osun State.

All eyes are currently on Pa Mathew Adedeji ( the late Ademola’s father) ,with relatives rallying round him always, to console him.

‘We did not abandon  family’

But the Rites Food Limited , the company alleged to have orchestrated the detention of Adedeji prior to his mysterious death, and  subsequently avoided the family,  has described as untrue the  claim that it had never visited the widow.

Rather, the personal  assistant to the Managing Director, Mr Adeniyi Obafemi ,stated that “ the company had earlier sent a representative to he deceased house to extend our condolence to the family but met their absence. They were told that the children and the wife had moved out of their residence”. To put the records  straight, Adeniyi began from  when  the deceased joined the company as a cash and carry customer four years ago.

But the action that signaled the danger ahead occurred after the deceased, according to  the PA to the MD,  requested for a credit facility increment late last year to help him participate in the conventions of two churches , a request, he said, was granted.

“ But after the convention,  to our surprise, the deceased did not honor the terms of  the agreement claiming all customers and churches did not pay him,” Adeniyi stated. “He had issued four dud cheques totaling N7.9 million. Consequently , a  customer  care staff  and an accountant personnel were assigned to visit his customers and churches to verify his alleged debt claims. All customers and churches representatives  in  the presence of himself and our staff debunked the claims.

“After two weeks, it was obvious that all the claims were not true and nobody owed him at this time. The  company started using dialogue one-on-on and on phone calls to talk him into paying up.

Cash and carry

“It should be noted that in January 2012, the company decided, in their magnanimity,  to still be selling to him provided he is ready to pay for such goods immediately. This means that his credit facility had been stopped. This was to allow him to still stay in bussiness so that he could pay up his debt and take care of his family as the bread winner.

It was, however , surprising to the company that it  was just too convenient for him to pay for goods without making payment of any part of the money he was owing the company which was one of the reasons he was obliged to do cash and carry.

“This case should have been reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) because of its criminal nature. We all know what the law says but we decided to let our actions have a human face.

“On one of the occasions during a chat with him by the M.D, he confessed  that he had diverted the funds into a building project  in Mowe. “On February 9, 2012, after a meeting with the company , it became obvious that he had no intention of paying  his debt. We then decided to refer the matter to the  police and he was arrested in a lawful manner  and was not harassed in any way.

“Right there in the station, our chief  security officer said, when he was leaving , that Mrs Adedeji commended  the organization and the police on the way Mr Ademola Adedeji was treated so humanely after reading her husband’s statement where he accepted the entire claims.

Although the bereaved family has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark,  House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal ,among others,demanding for justice to be done, areas  of investigation, according to concerned Nigerians, are: why did the police insist on detaining the deceased after the CSO had agreed that he should be released? Who was with him in the cell when he died? Which hospital was he rushed to and where is the certificate confirming his death?