Forty-years-old Moruf
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.
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.
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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