Categories: metro

I regret coming back to Nigeria —— 92-yr-old mourns, as son dies in police cell

Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun

I regret coming back to Nigeria —— 92-yr-old mourns, as son dies in police cell

For 92-year-old Festus Arhagba, life has become an endless nightmare of grief and regret after his 50-year-old son, Kingsley, reportedly died in police custody at the Ajeromi Division, Lagos, under what he described as a chilling mix of “deception, cruelty and extortion.”

Sitting in his modest Lagos home, leaning heavily on a walker, the frail nonagenarian battling paralysis recounted to Saturday Vanguard how the family’s torment began on June 26, 2025, when policemen later identified as operatives of the IGP Intelligence Response Team, Abuja, arrested his younger son, Kenneth.

In a quivering voice, he said: “I regret coming back to this country. I was employed directly from abroad to come here. Since I came to this country, I have never had this type of experience. My 50-year-old son, Kingsley, was the one taking care of me. Now I don’t know what to do.

“He had gone to drop his children at school when the policemen, five in number, handcuffed him in the presence of my grandchildren and whisked him away. For four agonizing days, we did not know where Kenneth was. Then I received a call from a policeman who identified himself as ASP Danjuma, telling us to bring food for Kenneth at Ajeromi Police Station.”

But the family’s hope soon turned into horror, as Kingsley was reportedly detained on arrival. Later, according to the nonagenarian, a family contact was told to bring someone on ‘level 12’ for Kenneth’s bail.

He said: “I told them I didn’t have anyone at that level, but I could bring my house documents. They agreed. I gave the documents to a Deacon who took them to the station. By the time he got there, he found that my elder son had collapsed. At the hospital where he was taken, doctors said Kingsley had died before he was brought in, and the policemen vanished, claiming they went to ‘pump their tyre.’”

Root cause

The tragedy’s roots trace back to a bitter dispute over a storey building on Salami Street, Tolu Road, in the Ajeromi Ifelodun area. Kenneth, the younger son earlier arrested, explained that years ago he had helped his ex-girlfriend, Mary James, facilitate the property purchase.

“Mary used my late elder brother’s name as the buyer on the ‘Contract of Sale,’” he revealed, adding that title documents were never produced. The matter was said to have been reported at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Alagbon, when the documents failed to appear, leading to the arrest of the seller, identified simply as Prince, who reportedly told detectives that the papers were with the EFCC and promised to refund the money to Mary.

But, Kenneth said, “the matter took a new twist, when Mary bypassed the police and settled directly with Prince. She shared a video showing them preparing a fresh deed”.