IGP orders full scale investigation into death of Kano prof. who was killed after being mistaken for Boko Haram leader

The Inspector General of Police has ordered a full scale investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of a leading professor of Agriculture at the Ahmadu Bello University ABU, Prof Ahmed Falaki who was killed in Kano on February 15th following suspicions he was a Boko Haram leader. 

Narrating how his father was killed, one of the sons of the late Professor said his father had set out on a journey in his official car with his younger brother and his driver to Bauchi state on Saturday Feb. 14th to see a relative. As they were returning to Kano, his car developed a flat Tyre in Fala village in Tudun Wada LGA of Kano State. He said according to his father's driver, while fixing their tyre, some armed men riding on a motorcycle accosted them and demanded for the keys to his SUV which he advised his driver to give to them. The armed men sped off with his car. Shortly after, Fala villagers saw the three men and accused them of being Boko Haram members. They said the prof. was their leader and had given the vehicle to their members.

 

They started beating his father, his brother and driver and afterwards dragged them to Kibiya police station in Kibiya Local government area of Kano state where the late professor was accused of being a leader of the sect group. 

 

According to the driver, despite the Professor showing them his ABU ID card, they still insisted he was a Boko Haram leader and that his ID card was fake. The villagers continued beating him with all kinds of weapons in the presence of the police officers until he died inside the police station.

 

The driver said when his boss died, the police men and the villagers started jubilating that they had killed a Boko Haram leader. Officers of the states Special Anti-Roberry Squad SARS afterwards came to collect his body and dropped it off at the state hospital's morgue while the driver and the Professor's brother were taken in handcuff's to the hospital. 

 

A search for the whereabouts of their father led the children to the state morgue where they discovered his body. The hospital management informed them that a SARS officer had dropped their father's body at the morgue. They decided to call the SARS officer to find out what had happened and the officer told them on phone that their father was a Boko Haram leader and that his brother and driver are suspects and would soon be interrogated. The children immediately contacted the ABU school authority who contacted the police to inform them that they had killed a leading agriculturist. 

Speaking on the incident, the Kano state Police Command PRO Majia denied any involvement of the police in the murder of the Professor, saying that it was the villagers that killed him outside the police station premises. According to Mr Majia, some gunmen had attacked the villagers and in the process, two people were killed. He said the villager,s suspecting the Professor was one of the armed men, attacked him and killed him. 

The professor has since been buried. 

The IG has now ordered a full scale investigation into the matter. Below is a press statement from the police. 

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba CFR, NPOM, NPM, mni, has viewed with great concern the death in Kano, of Prof. Ahmed Falaki of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. He has therefore ordered the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge Zone 1, Kano, AIG Tambari Muhammed to conduct an in-depth forensic investigation on the incident with a view to unraveling the circumstances surrounding the attack and death of the renowned Professor of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, some arrests have been made in connection with the incident, and the late professor’s vehicle has been recovered in Bauchi State.

The IGP wishes to assure the deceased’s immediate family and the general public that the Police will do all it takes to meet the ends of justice, while perpetrators of the unfortunate incident will not go unpunished.

  

Ag. CP EMMANUEL C. S. OJUKWU, psc
 FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER,
FORCE HEADQUARTERS,