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Benue police deny killing robbery suspect who died in custody.
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Officers say suspect tried to escape, rescued from angry youths.
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Autopsy and further investigations ordered to determine cause of death.
The Benue State Police Command has dismissed claims that its operatives killed a suspected armed robber, Philip Kpentuman, who died while in custody.
In a statement issued on Friday in Makurdi, the Command’s spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, explained that the Commissioner of Police, Emenari Ifeanyi, has ordered an autopsy to determine the actual cause of death.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that according to the police, Kpentuman was arrested on September 20 by operatives of Operation Zenda, who also conducted a search at his residence. He later led officers to a hideout at Tse-Tamen settlement in Ugondu, Makurdi, where a locally made pistol and five cartridges concealed in a nylon bag were recovered.
Edet said that after the recovery, the suspect asked to ease himself but attempted to escape. “He was rearrested with the help of youths in the community, who almost lynched him because of his criminal record, before the Police rescued him,” she stated.
Shortly after being taken back into custody, Kpentuman reportedly complained of severe body pains. He was rushed to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi, where a doctor confirmed him dead.
The police spokesperson stressed that the Command rejected accusations of extra-judicial killing, insisting that officers acted within the law and even intervened to save the suspect from mob violence.
She added that the State Criminal Investigation Department had opened a probe into the matter, and its findings would be made public in due course.
