South Africa launches enquiry after Nigerian dies in police custody sparking protests

SOUTH Africa's Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has opened an investigation into the death of a Nigerian who passed away while in custody after allegedly being suffocated to death in the Kempton Park district of Johannesburg.

 

Yesterday, A Nigerian man who is alleged to have swallowed hard drugs while being chased by South African police, died at the Kempton Police Station where he was taken to after he was arrested. Many Nigerians residing in South Africa staged a protest in front of the police station to demand justice, alleging that he was tortured to death.

 

Some Nigerians say contrary to what is being reported, the young man had a passport that was to expire this January and out of fear, started to run from the police. They say the police officers caught up with him, beat him up and then took him to their station where he died.

 

An autopsy to show whether he truly swallowed any drug is being awaited. According to some eyewitnesses, the unnamed man was allegedly suffocated to death by the police in Kempton Park.

 

His death led to a massive protest by some members of the Nigerian community outside a private hospital in Kempton Park. One other eyewitness alleged that brutality by the South African police on Nigerians living in the country in a bid to extort money from them was common.

 

As the Nigerian community demonstrated outside the hospital, hundreds of police officers were reported to have used rubber bullets to disperse the angry crowd. Some of the aggrieved protesters carried placards and chanted songs in solidarity with the deceased Nigerian.

 

One of the angry protesters said: “We need no more black police. Is that how the whites trained them? As professional police, they are supposed to arrest and take the person to court and allow the law take its course.

 

"We need justice in this country. Mandela fought for peace and justice but the black police are abusing it.”

 

Police officials, however, insist that the Nigerian died after he swallowed drugs to evade arrest. Ipid spokesperson, Robbie Raburabu, was quoted as saying the police could not give details but confirmed that the man died in police custody.

 

“According to police officers that were involved, the man was in possession of drugs but swallowed them before the officers could arrest him. He was convulsing and the officers rushed him to the nearest hospital to try to save his life but he died inside a police vehicle but the Nigerian community alleged that the police officers suffocated the man,” Mr Raburabu said.