IG Sets Up Panel To Probe Police Cadet’s Death
- Gives panel four-day deadline to conclude investigation
The acting Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun has instituted a seven-man Panel of Inquiry, headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, Abiodun Alabi, with a mandate to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a police cadet, Sulaiman Jika at the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State.
Other members of the panel include the Assistant Inspector-General, Training and Development, Oyeyemi Oyediran; Force Medical Officer, CP Garba Nzukwen; CP Homicide FCID, Fom-Pam Joseph, CP Training POLAC, CP Patrick Edung; a representative of the CP Legal as the secretary, and the Principal Staff Officer II to the IG, ACP Idris Abubakar.
Egbetokun also ordered the panel to furnish his office with a comprehensive report detailing its findings and recommendations within four days; while extending his heartfelt condolences and commiserations to Jika’s family, relations, and the academy community, and assuring that he was deeply empathetic to their pains and loss; and that the Force would do the needful to ensure justice is done in the case.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi made the development known midnight Tuesday at exactly 1:03 am, in an official correspondence.
Adejobi said, “In response to the tragic incident at the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State, where a promising young cadet, Sulaiman Jika, lost his life, on Friday, September 1, 2023, the Inspector General of Police has set up a seven-man Panel of Inquiry on Monday, September 4, 2023, headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, Abiodun Alabi, with a mandate to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the cadet’s death
“The IGP has set a deadline of four days for the panel to furnish a comprehensive report detailing its findings and recommendations. 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, 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.”
Jika was a 100-level Course 9 police cadet, dropped dead at POLAC on Saturday, September 2, 2023, after being allegedly starved and malnourished for over two weeks.