The family of a Police Corporal, Rauf Fawale, who was beaten to death by men of the Department of State Service (DSS), would always remain sober every January 25, as they remember the day their son died. The late Police Corporal was alleged to have bled to death after the beating he received from three (DSS) operatives, at Oke- Fia area of Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
However, two years after his death, his aged parents and wife are still waiting patiently to get justice. They said their breadwinner should not die in vain, that all those involved in his death should be arrested and prosecuted.
A fight
It was learnt that one Inspector Medinat Badmus who was celebrating birthday invited the late Fawale and the three DSS operatives. While at the party, an argument ensued between the deceased and the three secret service Cops and it was alleged that Fawale was hit with a plank on the head, causing blood to gush out.
DSS operatives
The DSS operatives, David Olowoporoku, Bamidele Mustapha and Ajanaku Ibrahim, were accused of beating Fawale up before he was rushed to the hospital. The late Fawale, an indigene of Ilobu in Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State, was attached to Dada Estate Police Station, Osogbo, before the unfortunate incident that claimed his life. Our correspondent gathered that it was the injuries Fawale suffered on his head that led to his death four days after he was admitted at the hospital where he was rushed for medical attention around 12:15pm on January 25.
Coroner’s inquest
After the death of Fawale, a coro- ner’s inquest was set up by the Osun State Government to investigate the root cause(s) of the death of the Police Corporal. When the coroner’s inquest rounded up its sitting in October 2022, it ordered the DSS in the state to release its three operatives to the state police command for prosecution after they were found culpable.
Delivering judgment on the inquest, Chief Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara, said the three secret police officers have questions to answer on the death of Fawale and ordered the DSS authority to release them to the police who have the constitutional right to investigate them. The DSS, Osun State Command, has however refused to make the accused operatives available to the police during investigation of the matter.
One of the Police Officers who in- vestigated the case, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Gabriel Oluwasesin, Officer in Charge of the Anti-Cultism Unit, had informed the court that Olowoporoku, Mustapha and Ajanaku had taken Fawale, who was in mufti, for a ‘Yahoo boy’ before beating him and hit his head with a plank. But, Olowoporoku and his colleagues denied the allegations of being the ones who killed the police corporal.
Olowoporoku’s counsel, J. P. Jones had informed the court that a police Inspector, Medinat Badmus, who reportedly arrested Olowoporoku at the scene, had signed the discharge of Fawale from the hospital, against medical advice, arguing that such an act was responsible for the policeman’s death. Ayilara said Badmus’ unilateral decision to apply for the discharge of the deceased was an act of negligence, adding that she arrogated power that she didn’t possess to herself.
The Chief Magistrate had said that the three DSS operatives involved in circumstances that led to the death of Fawale should be investigated within two weeks from the day he delivered the judgement.
He said the report of their investigation should be submitted to the Department of Public Prosecution in the ministry of Justice for necessary action on the matter. Ayilara added that the deceased died of massive cerebral bleeding due to a severe head injury, which the pathologist from the Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Wa- heed Oluogun, attested to during the hearing.
DSS, Police rivalry
However, about nine months after the coroner’s inquest gave the order, findings reveal that the DSS has failed to release the affected operatives to the police for investigation. It was gathered that the rivalry between the DSS and police in the state made it difficult for the two sister agencies to obey a court order which states that the case be reopened and all parties be invited for fresh interrogation.
Amid the development, family members of the deceased, including Fawale’s wife and parents, in their separate interviews, lamented frustration over the silence of the state government, DSS and police on the matter, saying the alleged murder of their bread winner has thrown them into hardship and financial distress.
Deceased’s wife still in shock
The distraught deceased’s wife, Balikis Fawale, said it has been difficult for her to train the three children left behind by her husband, adding that she now does menial jobs in the market, including helping people carry loads, to make ends meet. “It is now difficult for us to feed. I have to struggle in the market with menial labour.
We didn’t hear anything from the police and DSS and neither did any of those who killed my husband show concern for our welfare. We are suffering and it has been difficult training the children in school and also feeding them. Government should assist us and ensure that we get justice. “The case has lingered on for long and it appears some people have swept it under the carpet. Thank God for some human rights lawyers, including Barrister Lekan Alabi, who are still fighting for us,” the widow lamented.
Father falls sick
The father of the deceased, Rabiu Fawale, said he has been suffering an ailment since his son was beaten to death and that there is no money to treat it, adding that the late Fawale was the breadwinner of the family. “My son was just promoted at that time before the DSS operatives clubbed him to death. He was our breadwinner and has been taking care of me and the family. Ever since his death, the children have been finding it hard to continue with their education.
The Osun State Government should not allow this case to be swept under the carpet, justice must be done.” Corroborating her husband’s narration, the deceased’s mother, Semia- tu Fawale, lamented, “I have been in pain ever since my son died and we have not been able to raise the children alone. We want the government to help us so that those who killed our son will pay for their crime.”
Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Yemisi Opalola, has assured that those involved in the alleged murder of Fawale would not go unpunished. She said: “The Command is not relenting in their efforts to get justice for him, because injustice to one of them is an injustice to all.”
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