The FCT Police Command has claimed that an autopsy revealed that Erasmus Emhenya, a resident of Abuja, died of “asphyxiation,” but his mother continued to accuse officers of killing him in detention.

“Autopsy revealed that he (Erasmus) died of asphyxiation, that means he choked from food,” Josephine Adeh, spokesperson for FCT police, told Peoples Gazette.

Ms Adeh said the deceased’s mother had disagreed with the findings and that Mr Emhenya, who died in custody on April 6, 2023, did not sustain any injury.

“No body injuries, but the mother was not satisfied, so we were asked to transfer the case to the Force Headquarters,” she said. “But the family and the police brought their separate doctors to carry out this autopsy.”

According to her, the police arrested Mr Emhenya for conspiring with his friend to abduct a lady, who later died after being tied up.

“Another part is that the deceased and his friend abducted and tied up a young lady, stable (sic) her to death, the reason why he was arrested in the first place. His friend is still at large, and the deceased freely confessed to the crime.”

The police did not share Mr Emhenya’s autopsy with The Gazette. However, it asked those interested in the case to visit the Force Headquarters for details.

Despite police’s claim that the autopsy showed Mr Emhenya died of asphyxiation, the deceased’s mother, Mrs Emhenya, accused officers of torturing her son to death.

Speaking on Brekete Human Rights Radio on Wednesday, Mrs Emhenya, a widow, said her son was arrested in a police raid on April 6, 2023, after a girl named Blessing was stabbed to death by one Benjamin.

According to her, Mr Emhenya, who was not involved in the killing of Blessing, was held on the instruction of Sunday Timothy, the Nyanya Police Station DCO1, until he died, even when Benjamin, who killed Blessing, confessed her son was not involved in the case.

“I came to see Erasmus in the police station, and Aisha, a police officer at Nyanya, told me he was sleeping. I asked her to wake him up for me, but the police officer refused. I was about going home but turned and saw one of the boys in the cell, so I said, please help me wake Erasmus up. That was how Benjamin, who killed Blessing, told me Erasmus was beaten to death overnight,” she said.

She added, “I was crying and rolling on the floor. The DPO of Nyanya Police Station ordered that I be thrown out. So, police officers carried me and hit me on the ground. OC surveillance told my second son, Kingsley, Erasmus’ life is not more important than the lives of others they have wasted in Nyanya Police Station.”

Some Nigerians had berated the Nigerian police on X and demanded justice for Mr Emhenya’s mother after her appearance on Brekete Family Human Rights Radio went viral.

Mr Emhenya’s death in detention comes as another episode of persons dying in police cells. Rated one of the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria, years of police brutality, extortion and extra-judicial killings sparked nationwide #EndSARS protests in 2020.

Though the Special Anti-Robbery Squad was disbanded, cases of police brutality, illegal detention, extortion and extra-judicial killings are still the norm in Nigeria.