Abubakar Sanni, teammate and friend to Kazeem Tiyamiyu, a professional footballer with Remo Stars Football Club, has narrated how he was killed by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) a section of the Nigerian Police on Saturday.
Tribune Online reports that Tiyamiyu was killed on Saturday after he was knocked down by an oncoming vehicle on the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway.
Tribune Online recalls that Tiyamiyu and his teammate were arrested by a team of policemen at the Ita-Oba junction opposite the palace of Akarigbo and paramount ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi.
A statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on Sunday, said Tiyamiyu was arrested for wearing military apparel.
Oyeyemi added that Tiyamiyu was knocked down while trying to escape arrest at the Orile-Imo axis of the expressway.
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But Sanni, who was in the vehicle with Tiyamiyu at the time of arrest, said they were arrested on the suspicion that they were internet fraudsters (Yahoo boys).
Sanni added that Tiyamiyu was pushed out of the vehicle by the officers who were inside a Gold-colour Toyota Sienna minivan.
Narrating the experience, Sanni said: “We came out this (Saturday) morning to go to Kaka’s father’s house. We stopped at Ita Oba roundabout to get engine oil for Kaka’s car. He left me in the car.
“Then the SARS officers in a Gold Sienna minivan parked in front of our car. One of them alighted from the vehicle and started questioning me who I was, my mission at that spot and who owns the car. I told them the car belongs to my friend. When he asked where he was, I told him he was getting something.
“He asked for my phone and my friend’s phone. They asked me to explain things about the phone. He collected the phone from me and gave the phone to his colleagues in the Sienna.
“When Kaka came back from where he got the engine oil, he was taken and put inside the Sienna vehicle. And they said they were taking us to their headquarters.
“They drove us towards their Area Command (at Iperu junction). We asked them to stop there but they said they were taking us to their headquarters.
“They did not stop until we got past Nestle Plc. It was then they started asking us questions again.
“The officer that drove Kaka’s vehicle where I was stopped, came out of the vehicle and opened the bonnet of the car. I wanted to alight but he stopped me and threatened me with his gun. The Sienna was in front of me.
“I saw that the vehicle of the Sienna was opened and they pushed my friend out of the moving vehicle to the road. A vehicle that was coming behind us hit him. Kaka then tried to cross to the other lane.
“I came out of the vehicle crying to help so that he can be taken to the hospital.
“The officers took him and put him in his car because they didn’t want to put him in their vehicle.
“We drove to a nearby hospital but the attendants there couldn’t treat him. They referred us to the General Hospital, Owode.
“An Okada man who led us was at the back of the vehicle with Kaka while I was seated beside one of the SARS officers who drove Kaka’s vehicle.
“When we got to the hospital, we couldn’t find the Siena vehicle that was hitherto behind us. We took Kaka into the hospital and dropped him on the floor before we were asked to put him on the hospital bed. At that point, I couldn’t find the SARS officer who drove our car.
“I went outside to look for him and met him making calls outside the hospital. I asked about the whereabouts of his colleagues who were not at the hospital but he was moving to the gate.
“I ran after him, held him and told him he cannot run away after killing my friend. He was with his gun at that time. I held him by the waist and people at the hospital came out to assist in holding him.
“It was then that the people asked that I report to a nearby police station. I reported there and then called Kaka’s parents to intimate them on the development,” Sanni said.
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