Olamilekan Sanyaolu, father of 14-year-old Mubarak, who was killed by a stray bullet fired by a police officer during a protest in Lagos, speaks to DAYO OYEWO about his frustration with getting justice for his late son and the eventual disappearance of his body from the morgue
How did you receive the news that your late son’s body was missing?
I was unhappy when I visited the mortuary and was told that my son’s corpse was no longer there; I was shocked and wondered if such could have happened. I felt bad about that. I concluded that this happened to me because of my status. They (the police) felt I was nobody; because if such had happened to a rich person, the issue would have been resolved a long time ago. You can imagine that this is the fourth year; they felt if I was tired, I would go and sit down.
What happened when you got to the mortuary?
When we got there on January 16, this year, we presented the letter the police gave us, and then they asked for another document meant to retrieve the body, but I said I was given the paper and that it was with the police since they were the ones that brought the body. We even sat for close to two hours before they (mortuary managers) attended to us.
They collected the papers from us, and we left. It was the second day that they called us from the mortuary, saying they could not find the body and that it might have been buried in a mass grave. Then I wondered if they knew what they did and how they buried a dead human being whose matter was under investigation.
Did you get back to the police on this?
I later called Supol Alonge that same day and he asked me to give him five minutes to confirm from the mortuary. He called me back and said it was true that the corpse was no longer there. I reminded him that it was the police who gave us the letter to retrieve the corpse. Then he said that was no longer his business and told me to call my lawyer. Since then, we did not hear from the police or the hospital. Even when they claimed that they carried out an autopsy on the boy, I did not hear anything about it. When they told us about the autopsy, the person I went to Panti (State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba Lagos) with questioned why they went ahead with an autopsy without the knowledge of the parents.
Then the same Alonge said if we were not satisfied, we should go and do our autopsy. This is the same officer who said he was going to slap me and lock me up when I objected to his claim that my late son was killed by a soldier. He said I was embarrassing the police by insisting that it was their officer. It was the new head that they brought to Panti during our repeated visits who invited me and asked me to explain what happened.
What did the new head tell you when you honoured the invitation?
The man asked for the file and after going through it, he said I was right that it was the police who killed the boy. He said he thought it was a soldier because that was what they told him. He said they lied to him that the boy was killed in front of the barracks in the community. Then he asked me and my lawyer, who was present, what I wanted, and I said we wanted to bury my son. He then said he would work on it.
Was any document given to you to prove an autopsy was carried out?
No document was provided. That is the document that could shed light on this situation, and it is still in the possession of the Investigating Police Officer. Despite our repeated requests, he has refused to release these documents, leaving us with more questions than answers. As a father, it’s heartbreaking to think that my child’s body would have been treated with such disregard.
For far too long, we were left in the dark, unsure of the condition of the body or even if it was still intact. The lack of transparency and accountability in this case is alarming. It’s unacceptable that a family should have to go through such an ordeal, and I demand that the authorities take immediate action to address our concerns.
So, who do you think could be responsible for this, between the hospital managing the morgue and the police?
The police are the culprit because the whole issue became faulty right from their own end, but the hospital must also explain and account for the body of my son. When they took the boy to the morgue, they did not know that people would come and look for him. The police told them at the morgue that they found his corpse by the roadside. When we got to the morgue and identified the body, they said the police who brought him said it was a vehicle that knocked him down, and that was how we told them what happened.
We had to explain that their claim was not true. So, after that, we visited the Homicide section of SCID Panti, and when the police discovered that we were interested in what killed him, they changed the story again. During one of our visits, one of their bosses summoned the IPO and asked him about the case. He said it was a soldier who killed him while explaining that the scene of the incident was close to military barracks. That was when I quickly interrupted that it wasn’t military officers who killed my son; it was a police officer. So, we went there again, and they kept on telling us the same thing.
The uncertainty was unbearable, and it’s frustrating that we could not get the answers we needed. During our last visit to the police station, I went with our lawyer who wrote a letter requesting my son’s corpse since nothing was coming out of the investigation. Meanwhile, the IPO said he was not sure if the body was still there, but since that was just a verbal communication and not a formal communication, we decided to write a letter to make a formal request. It was after this that they gave us a letter to collect the body from the mortuary.
What other step did you take after being informed of the missing body?
We have also written to the morgue managers to explain the whereabouts of the body, but they are afraid to reply. We want the hospital to tell us whether they buried my son in a mass grave on their own or whether they got the approval of the police. We have also written a follow-up letter to the hospital to remind them that they have not yet replied to our first letter.
How has the disappearance of your son’s body from the morgue affected you?
It’s like reopening a wound that is trying to heal. We were already struggling to cope with the loss; now, we have to deal with the fact that his body is gone. It’s unbearable. Since then, the visually impaired mother has not been herself. She has been reluctantly doing whatever she does in the house since then. I understand that she is pained.
How would you describe Mubarak?
My son was learning a trade and had only one year left. I was happy because I knew he would be able to take care of himself and help me with money. I once said he was like the Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, because I thought he would do great things. But now, he is gone, and I have to take care of everything by myself.
My son was not just a child; he was helping us. There were times he told his mother not to worry, and that he would buy food for her on his way back from work. Since he died, all the burden has been on me alone. I am very sad because my son will never get to do all the things he promised to do.
Can you recall how he died?
A policeman requested N100 from a tricycle rider called Eleyele, but he said he wasn’t working at that moment and that he only wanted to drop the tricycle for the person who wanted to use it. So, he refused to give the policeman the money, but the policeman threatened to ‘waste him’ if he did not give him the money.
They went back and forth with the argument, after which the policeman opened his bag, brought out a knife, and stabbed the tricycle operator in the chest. That was how the man fell. People rushed him to a nearby hospital only to be told that he was dead. The boys around took the corpse to the Meiran Police Station at the bus stop to protest his killing.
That was the beginning of trouble, as there were many policemen at the command area that day. I went to see Mubarak because the place where the man was killed was not far from the place where my son was learning his vocation. When I got there, the people at the scene where the incident happened gathered inside a shopping complex where they sought safety.
By the time the heat of the riot had gone down and the complex was opened, we discovered that the policemen who gathered there were more than 15. They were armed with guns, which they shot. When the chaos subsided a bit, more people had the opportunity to leave the complex for their safety. At the time, Mubarak was there. It was when he ran out that the policemen shot Mubarak, and another person was hit. The second person was just lucky that he didn’t die because he was hit on his hand, but a stray bullet hit Mubarak, and he fell on the walkway.
What is your demand considering this development?
I want them to take me to where my son was buried. That was a terrible thing to do, and it appeared like there was nothing I could do about it. It is a decision that has added to the sorrow of losing a child. He was supposed to be 19 years old by March 30, but they wasted his life. Even after killing him, they went to dispose of his body and then claimed that they did not see it.
Is that supposed to be so in a country where there is law and order? They don’t know what my son could have become in the future. They even left us, the parents, to bear the grief alone without showing any care whatsoever. Since the incident happened, nobody has shown up at our place. Even the DPO of the police station whose officer killed my son did not visit us. My life has not remained the same since they killed my Mubarak.
