OYO POLICE DENY CHARGING STUDENT OVER ₦8,000 DEBT
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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim
The Oyo State Police Command has disputed claims surrounding the arrest and prosecution of a student, Al-Amin Mohammed, who later died by suicide, insisting that he was not arrested or charged to court over an outstanding ₦8,000 debt.
The Command said Mohammed was charged with assault and malicious damage after allegedly assaulting a female Point-of-Sale operator and damaging her Airtel SIM registration machine valued at ₦177,000.
The police account differs from that of Mohammed’s family, which claimed that he was arrested and taken to court following a dispute over an ₦8,000 debt owed to the POS operator.
Mohammed died on September 17, three days after his release from the Agodi Correctional Centre.
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In a statement on Saturday, the Command described reports that Mohammed was detained over the debt as “false, unfounded and misleading.”
According to the police, investigation showed that Mohammed approached the POS operator to collect ₦23,000 in cash, intending to transfer the same amount to her through a POS transaction.
The Command said the operator gave him the money, but he allegedly left without making the transfer or returning the cash. It said he later refunded ₦15,000, leaving an outstanding ₦8,000, which he allegedly refused to pay.
The police said the complainant subsequently took possession of Mohammed’s mobile phone pending repayment of the outstanding amount.
According to the Command, Mohammed went to the complainant’s residence on September 8, 2026, at about 10pm, where he allegedly assaulted her and damaged her Airtel SIM registration machine valued at ₦177,000.
The family, however, gave a different account, with Mohammed’s mother telling PUNCH that her son went to retrieve his phone after it was seized over the ₦8,000 dispute and denied that he damaged the complainant’s property.
The police said community members later attempted to resolve the dispute before Mohammed and the complainant were taken to the police station by vigilantes.
The Command said efforts to settle the matter amicably failed after the complainant insisted on pursuing the case in court.
It maintained that Mohammed was prosecuted for assault and malicious damage, not for the outstanding ₦8,000.
The police also rejected claims that Mohammed remained in custody because he could not repay the debt, explaining that a court granted him bail after arraignment but he remained at the Agodi Correctional Centre because he was unable to immediately meet the bail conditions.
He was subsequently released after fulfilling the conditions, the Command said.
On Mohammed’s death, the police cautioned against linking it directly to the case without verified evidence.
The Command said the circumstances surrounding his death should be established through appropriate investigation rather than through an “inaccurate or incomplete narrative.”
The police maintained that although ₦8,000 remained outstanding from the initial financial transaction, the amount was not the basis of the criminal proceedings against Mohammed.
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