Moruf Haruna, a company driver, has died after he was allegedly
kicked in the stomach by an officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency in the Abaji area of Kogi State.
Punch Metro learnt that 40-year-old Haruna, who worked for Vintage
Transport and Logistics, was allegedly manhandled by the officer when an
NDLEA team stopped his vehicle for a search in the Abaji area.
Haruna’s ‘motor boy’, identified only as Matthew, told Punch
correspondent that there were seven NDLEA officers at the checkpoint,
adding that the NDLEA officer that kicked his boss also stamped his legs
on Haruna’s stomach.
He said, “We were going to Jos around 5am on Saturday. The NDLEA
officers were seven and their leader held a gun. Others held clubs. One
of them stopped our truck and we tried to park by the roadside. While
doing that, he hurled insults at us.
“When my boss (Haruna) came down, the officer first beat him with a
club. My boss told him there was no reason for the abuse as we were
carrying lawful goods. The officer got angry and kicked him in the
stomach.
“He fell and the officer ‘marched’ on his stomach. It was when they
noticed he was not moving that they decided to rush him to a hospital.
“He died in Jos on Monday around 4am. I am still at the hospital as an autopsy will be conducted on him.”
The Managing Director, Vintage Transport and Logistics, Lekan
Akinkiitan, said Haruna had worked with the company for 10 years before
the tragedy.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, said Haruna sustained
injuries during the search – when he tried to resist the officers from
doing their lawful duties.
Ofoyeju added that after first-aid treatment was given to the driver,
he was discharged and the agency had not been briefed that he had died.
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