The family of a polytechnic graduate, Emmanuel Solarin, who allegedly committed suicide in the Isara area of Ogun State, has accused the police in the Isara division of cover-up.

Emmanuel, a graduate of the Abraham Adesanya ICT Polytechnic, Sapade, Ogun State, was found dead in his room on December 17, 2022.

It was gathered that the deceased owned a computer centre in the polytechnic, where he engaged in project writing and printing.

His lifeless body was found hanged in his room.

Emmanuel’s sister, Yinka, alleged that the Isara Divisional Police Officer refused to make an arrest despite confirming to them that her brother was murdered.

She claimed that the DPO told the family they did not have the financial resources to pursue the case.

Yinka also alleged that the DPO forced the family to bury the corpse without doing an autopsy to discover the real cause of death.

According to her, Emmanuel was killed because of a financial transaction.

She said the family also went to the Ogun State police headquarters, Eleweran, but nothing was done to investigate the case.

Yinka said, “When we got to where he was hanged, it was obvious that he did not commit suicide; the arrangement looked like he was killed and hanged afterwards.

“The police took his corpse to a mortuary. We met the DPO of Isara Police Division. He said he had an interest in the case and he was going to make sure the culprits were found.

“We learnt that his girlfriend, whom people said they had a fight, might be responsible. From findings, we gathered that Emmanuel transferred a large sum of money to his girlfriend when some of his friends wanted to collect the money from him.

“The lady refused to return the money after the whole thing died down. That was why he went to meet the lady at home and seized her phone.

“After seizing the phone, we learnt that Emmanuel went straight to Isara Police Station to lodge a complaint. He also explained to them that he seized his girlfriend’s phone because he met another guy at her house.”

Yinka, however, said the DPO denied having a record of the statement made by Emmanuel at the station.

She added, “One of the officers at the gates admitted that he saw Emmanuel when he came to the station, but the DPO insisted that he did not have any record of my brother’s statement.

“It was the DPO that asked us to go and bury him and that he would continue investigation into the case. But nobody has been arrested.

“When we saw the corpse at the mortuary, it looked like he was poisoned. When we were bathing him, his flesh was peeling off. We had to just manage to bury him.”

The woman lamented that the late Emmanuel was the breadwinner of the family.

She said, “We want to get to the root of the matter and know what actually led to his death. It is unfair to be carrying rumours that he committed suicide.

“He was not depressed and people confirmed to have seen some guys entering his house that same day. So, there is more to it than what the police are telling us.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the police could not make an arrest based on speculation.

Oyeyemi stressed that the family could not provide evidence that the deceased’s girlfriend had anything to do with his death.

He said, “They came to me and I advised them. They said they suspected his girlfriend; we asked them to tell us the reason for their suspicion. They said he collected money and sent it to his girlfriend.

“Before we can do anything on that type of case, we have to know who sent money to him and how much it is.

“To accuse somebody of murder is a very serious offence; you cannot just raise allegations of murder against somebody without substantive evidence. We asked them to provide who sent the money, then we could start investigation.

“There was a member of their family known as Honourable that came with them that told us we should allow them to bury the corpse.

“The police invited that girlfriend and everybody was there. The Honourable said they should leave her that it did not look like the lady had anything to do with the death of their brother.” (The PUNCH)

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