Ayuba Sanusi
THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun has set up a panel of inquiry to unravel the cause of the sudden death of a promising young cadet, Sulaiman Jika, who died on Friday, 1st of September, 2023 at the Nigeria Police Academy (POLAC), Wudil, Kano State while undergoing training in order to be enlisted into the Force.
The seven-man panel constituted yesterday at the Force headquarters is headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, DIG Abiodun Alabi,
, with a mandate to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cadet’s death.
Other members of the panel include the AIG Training and Development, AIG Oyeyemi Oyediran; Force Medical Officer, CP Garba Emmanuel Nzukwen; CP Homicide FCID, CP Fom Pam Joseph, psc(+); CP Training POLAC, CP Patrick Edung; representative of the CP Legal as the secretary, and the Principal Staff Officer II to the IGP, ACP Idris Abubakar.
The IGP also extended his heartfelt condolences and commiserations to the family and relations of Sulaiman Jika and the academy community, during this trying time, assuring that he is deeply empathetic to their pains and loss; and that the Force would do the needful to ensure justice is done in the case.
ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer, in a statement, said the IGP has set a deadline of four days for the panel to furnish a comprehensive report detailing its findings and recommendations.
Eighteen-Eleven Media reports that Sulaiman Jika, 100-level Course 9 Police Cadet, dropped dead at the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State, on Saturday, owing to alleged starvation and malnourishment for over two weeks.
Some of the cadets accused the Commandant, Assistant Inspector-General, Sadiq Abubakar, of high-handedness and financial mismanagement of feeding allowance meant for the students.
Jika, who hailed from Adamawa State, and was in the Department of Computer Science, collapsed inside the toilet in the early hours of Saturday.
A cadet, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being victimized, said the victim was rushed to the academy’s clinic.
“He was left untreated because there are no drugs and no medical officer to attend to him in the unconducive environment, before he gave up and died,” the source added.
A cadet, who also asked not to be identified, said there was usually high traffic of sickly cadets daily at the unequipped clinic.
He said, “Since the new commandant assumed office, they’ve been providing very bad and inadequate food for us. The boy that died was not up to 20 years old. The boy wouldn’t have died if they’d attended to him. The commandant also ordered the closure of the market and laundry and approved undeserved training exercises during lecture hours.
“Cadets collapse daily here during training due to fatigue, because it’s either they’re starved, malnourished, or both. We’re usually threatened by the commandant and forced to engage in unwarranted training exercises. Also, many cadets have been dismissed on the basis that they fell sick; that’s why many are trying to manage themselves to avoid expulsion from the academy.”
Eighteen-Eleven Media