By The death of Al-Amin Mohammed, a 30-year-old polytechnic student and aluminium fixer, has ignited a dispute between his grieving family and the Oyo State Police Command over what truly led to his arrest, detention and eventual death.
Mohammed died on September 17, three days after his release from the Agodi Custodial Centre in Ibadan, days after a chain of events his family says began with a disagreement over an N8,000 debt.
The family’s account
According to his mother, Simiat Mohammed, her son had borrowed N23,000 from a Point of Sale operator identified as Kazeem, who runs a phone charging and POS business around the Oni Gaari area of Ayegun, Ibadan. He repaid N15,000, leaving an outstanding balance of N8,000. A disagreement followed, during which Kazeem’s apprentice allegedly seized Mohammed’s phone over the unpaid balance.
Simiat said her son later returned to retrieve the phone, a confrontation that eventually escalated well beyond what she considered a minor dispute. He was allegedly detained overnight by a vigilante said to be the father of one of Kazeem’s employees, before being handed over the following day, September 9, to officers at the Sanyo Divisional Police Station.
Simiat said that when she visited the station with food for her son, officers did not allow her to give it to him. During a brief encounter she was permitted, Mohammed denied a separate allegation that he had damaged a mobile phone belonging to Kazeem, insisting the only money he owed was the N8,000 balance.
She alleged that the Investigating Police Officer, identified as Adekeye, was determined to see her son prosecuted despite the family’s appeals for a settlement, and that the family was asked to provide N100,000 for bail and another N70,000 to cover the damaged phone. Mohammed’s father, Habeeb, made a similar allegation, claiming the matter was escalated because the complainant’s father was known to the Divisional Crime Officer.
The family said Mohammed was taken to court in the Mapo area of Ibadan on September 10 without prior notice to them. A lawyer identified as Boluwatife offered to represent him free of charge, and the court granted him bail of N100,000 with two sureties. Unable to immediately meet the bail conditions, Mohammed was remanded at the Agodi Custodial Centre for four days before his parents secured his release on September 14 by standing as sureties.
His family said he returned home a changed man. He stopped eating, withdrew from those around him, and repeatedly voiced distress over what he described as humiliation from being detained, prosecuted and imprisoned over an allegation he denied. Three days later, on September 17, Mohammed reportedly ingested a poisonous substance at his residence. Before that, according to the family, he left a voice note for his mother, expressing frustration and asking his siblings to look after her.
His father said three hospitals declined to attend to him before the family reached the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where he was pronounced dead after the family made the required payments.
Mohammed’s elder sister, Adenike, described him as the family’s main source of support, someone who combined aluminium work with his studies while helping care for their mother. A family friend and retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, Isiaka Ayole, called for an independent investigation into the circumstances of the arrest and detention, questioning why the vigilante who held Mohammed overnight was not also scrutinised.
The family is appealing to President Bola Tinubu, the Inspector General of Police and the Oyo State Government to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the case and Mohammed’s death.
Kazeem’s account
Responding to the allegations, Kazeem told journalists he was shocked by Mohammed’s death and maintained that he never intended to pursue the matter beyond recovering his money. He said the dispute traced back to an earlier incident in which Mohammed withdrew N7,000 from his apprentice, Maryam, without completing a promised transfer, a matter he said was eventually resolved after Mohammed’s grandmother repaid the sum.
On the more recent incident, Kazeem said another apprentice, Iya Ajike, handled a transaction in which Mohammed collected about N23,000 and left his phone behind pending a transfer. Mohammed later returned, paid N15,000 and promised to settle the remaining N8,000 the following day, a payment Kazeem said never came. He said Ajike eventually traced Mohammed to a location, retrieved the phone, and returned it to the shop.
Kazeem alleged that on the night of September 8, Mohammed came to reclaim the phone from Ajike and, in a struggle over a separate Airtel-branded device used for the business, damaged its screen. He said a local landlord association attempted to mediate the following morning without success, after which other individuals reportedly came forward with similar complaints against Mohammed. The matter was then referred to a vigilante group, which directed both parties to the Sanyo Police Station.
Kazeem said his only request to police was that Mohammed take responsibility for the damaged phone and its repair, a request Mohammed denied. He said police detained Mohammed that day, and he was charged the following day, pleading not guilty before a magistrate ordered his remand until an October 10 adjournment. Kazeem said he only learned Mohammed had been granted bail on the Thursday before his death, and maintained he had never intended for the matter to escalate into a criminal case, noting that the money spent pursuing it already exceeded the amount owed.
The police account
The Oyo State Police Command has strongly disputed the family’s version of events, describing as “false, unfounded and misleading” any suggestion that Mohammed was detained or prosecuted over the N8,000 debt.
According to the Command’s statement, investigations established that Mohammed had approached the POS operator to collect N23,000 in cash with the intention of completing a transfer of the same amount, a transfer he never made after leaving the scene with the money. He later refunded N15,000, leaving the N8,000 balance he subsequently declined to pay, prompting the complainant to hold onto his phone pending settlement.
The police said Mohammed went to the complainant’s residence on September 8 at about 10pm, where he allegedly assaulted her and damaged her Airtel SIM registration machine, valued at N177,000. Community members attempted to resolve the dispute before Mohammed was handed to vigilantes, who brought both parties to the police station, where a further attempt at amicable resolution also failed as the complainant insisted on pursuing the matter in court.
The Command maintained that Mohammed was charged with assault and malicious damage, not over the outstanding N8,000, stressing that the criminal proceedings stemmed from the alleged assault and the damage to the SIM registration equipment. It further stated that the court granted Mohammed bail after arraignment and that his continued stay at the Agodi Custodial Centre resulted from his inability to immediately meet the bail conditions, not from any police decision to hold him over the debt. He was released once those conditions were met.
On the question of Mohammed’s death, the Command said it would be inappropriate to draw a causal link between the police case and his death without verified facts, insisting that the circumstances of his death should be established through proper investigation rather than an incomplete narrative.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Police Command, Ayanlade Olayinka, said he was not aware of the incident, and a follow-up message sent to him had not been responded to as at the time of filing this report.
This is a developing story, and the circumstances surrounding Mohammed’s death remain the subject of competing accounts pending an independent investigation.
If you or someone you know is struggling with distress or thoughts of suicide, please consider reaching out to a trusted professional or local support service for help.
