Controversy has continued to trail the death of Muideen Folorunsho Mustapha who was allegedly gunned down by a policeman during the fuel subsidy removal protest in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital last Tuesday.
Mustapha was said to have been killed at the post office area of the metropolis when he joined hundreds of other youths in protesting the sudden withdrawal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.
Though the Kwara State police command has said that Mustapha was killed by a motorcycle rider, popularly called okada during the protest, all accusing fingers are pointing at the direction of the police.
Family of the deceased, professional bodies and the student union were unanimous in their conclusion that Mustapha was felled by police bullets.
The Kwara State commissioner of police, Mr. Peter Gana, who confirmed Mustapha’s death during a press conference in his office on Wednesday, however, denied that the victim was shot by his men, explaining that he was stabbed to death by a commercial motorcycle operator.
Expectedly, public outcry has continued to trail the gruesome murder of Mustapha, with associations like the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ilorin branch and National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS) calling for the probe of the incident. Even the state government has stressed the need for a thorough probe of Mustapha’s death.
The state government had, in a statement signed by the chief press secretary to the governor, Alh. AbdulWahab Oba, condemned the killing of the young man.
The aged father of the deceased, Alhaji Mustapha Oke-Odo, said he has accepted the death of his son as the will of God. He, however, stressed the need for the concerned authorities to bring the perpetrators of such evil act to book to serve as a lesson to others who feel they can do anything when in uniform. He said it was confirmed in the hospital that his son died of bullet wounds, adding, “We want justice.’’
Speaking with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND on Thursday at their Ode-Alahusa residence in Ilorin, the half brother of the deceased, Rafiu Mustapha, said the news of his death came as a rude shock to the family, adding that the police had thrown the entire family into mourning.
In an emotion-laden voice, Rafiu said, “We feel very sad. In fact, it is an ugly and unfortunate incident. They have thrown us into mourning, but as Muslims we take it as an act of God. We believe that God gives and takes life. We are not interested in suing the government, but we want Nigerians and the entire world to know that the picture the police have painted is false.”
He added, “The news said the police shot him, but the police are claiming that he was stabbed by one of the protesters. It is not true at all because eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident told us that he was killed by police bullet. When we went to the mortuary to take his corpse for burial, the police came, went in with the doctors and chased our brother out when the autopsy was being carried out.
“I know that the police had an ulterior motive. It was clear, through the wounds shown to us, that he died of a gunshot. The police should be cautioned to be civil in handling protests. People are angry against a policy the government is trying to implement. The protest was peaceful. All the police needed to do on that day was to guide them from vandalising people’s property. I watched the Abuja and Lagos protests on television, the police didn’t shoot at people, they didn’t kill anybody. They only shot teargas canisters to scare people away. I don’t know what came over the police in Kwara.
In its reaction, the NBA, Ilorin branch, condemned in strong terms, the gruesome murder of Mustapha.
The union in a statement titled, ‘Unwarranted Killing of an innocent protester in Iloin by Nigeria Police Force During Protest Against Removal of Subsidy,’ said it viewed the dastardly and heinous act of the police as highly barbaric, uncivilised, despicable and ungodly.
The statement signed by the NBA chairman, Barrister Rafiu Balogun added that, “We were totally puzzled, bewildered, flabbergasted and worried by the ugly situation whereby an innocent Nigerian will be killed simply because he is expressing his disapproval of the obnoxious policy of the federal government.
“It is disheartening that the police will kill innocent Nigerians they are paid with taxpayers money to protect,” the NBA posited.
It added, “We have expressed our condemnation of extra-judicial killings by police on several occasions but to no avail. We therefore join other civil societies or non-governmental organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to call for total re-organisation and orientation of the officers and men of the Nigeria police, with a view to making them more civil in their approach and have respect for human lives and guard jealously, the sacred fundamental rights entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We note with dismay and are taken aback by the attitude of the Nigeria Police in Ilorin metropolis during the emergency meeting of the association. Two police utility vehicles drove in front of the High Court premises and the policemen therein shot sporadically into the air and people were moving helter-skelter for safety. The sporadic gunshot led to immediate adjournment of a court sitting at the time.
“We also urge the inspector- general of police to give a directive that no livee cartridge be used to disperse the protesters. Even where the protest turns violent, it will not be a justification for killing or maiming Nigerians as that is the best practice in civilised climes. We also enjoin the IGP to investigate the killing of Muideen Mustapha in Ilorin, with a view to making the erring police officer face the full wrath of the Law.”
The National Congress of Nigerian Students, also in its reaction, said, “Muhideen Mustapha was shot dead by the police in Ilorin while he was protesting peacefully with other great students and youths of this country.”
The students body, in a statement signed by its national president, AbdulSalam AbdulFatai, senate president, Nurudeen Salam and national secretary, AbdulGaniy Olaide, regretted that, “The police opened fire on these future leaders who came out to make their minds known in accordance with the law. These black-minded security agents could not combat crime with their guns, but could kill innocent citizens who are constitutionally kept under their protection. We identify their destructive and provocative role. They provoke every peaceful protest at the slightest opportunity.”
NACONS therefore, demanded for the prosecution of all the policemen involved in the killing of Mustapha, as well as the resignation of the Kwara State commissioner of police with immediate effect.
Despite the fiery and the outcry, Mustapha has already gone to the great beyond and neither rhetoric nor money can bring him back.
Even though the mother-of-all protests ordered by the NLC is yet to begin, the killing of Mustapha has already given him a pride of place in the annals of protests as a hero or something of a matyr in Nigeria.