IGP Orders Investigations Into Insp. Atobaloye’s Death

…. Assures of Justice

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Idris Baba Alkali has called for in-depth investigations into the remote circumstances surrounding the demise of a Police Inspector, Inspector Atobaloye Taiye, who was on Quick Intervention special duty from Oke-Onigbin Divisional Headquarters, Kwara State, to the Zone 8 Command Headquarters, Lokoja, which covers Kogi and Kwara States.

According to a press release on Saturday, 29th April 2023 signed by the Force PRO, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that details from the Zonal Headquarters report showed that the Inspector was posted on the 1st of April, 2023, reported on the 11th of April and was immediately posted as part of the team manning the main gate of the Zonal Command Headquarters.

“However, he failed to report at the duty post and went missing in action for nine days, only to resurface on the 19th of April in a drunken state. He was eventually defaulted and detained for absence from duty and drunkenness. While on detention, he reportedly took ill and was moved to the Police Clinic, then referred to the Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, where he eventually gave up the ghost.

“The Inspector-General of Police while commiserating with the families, friends, and loved ones of the deceased, has tasked the Criminal Investigation Department’s Homicide Unit of the Kogi State Command to commence investigations and conduct a postmortem examination on the corpse to determine the cause(s) of his death, Adejobi said.

Recall that Zone 8 Command spokesperson, Ruth Awi, confirmed the incident. She said Atobiloye absconded from duty after reporting for special duty at the command and was unable to be located for two days until cops discovered him inebriated.

She stated that the officer was detained for him to get himself and that he died in detention.

She said, “He was not detained at the Zonal Headquarters, he was detained at the D Division in Lokoja. He reported at the Zonal Headquarters and then disappeared into thin air; there are punishments for people who abscond from duty without any excuse. But in his case, he did not only stay away from work, he was drunk when he was found.

“For the effect of the drink to be cleared, the boss said he should stay in the cell for two days until he is fit for interrogation to explain where he went to and where he was coming from. So, he was detained at the D Division for about two or three days after which the news came to us that he gave up.”