The police authorities in South Africa have arraigned in court eight of their officers over the torture and murder of a Nigerian, Ibrahim Olamilekan Badmus.
Trying them is the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria
The accused persons – two women and six men – were arrested in October 2017 by police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, for the torture and the murder of 25-year-old Badmus who was accused of selling drugs in the Vanderbijlpark area.
The court heard that on October 10, 2017 the police officers pounced on the community where the deceased used to stay following a tip-off about drugs being sold in the house.
In their affidavits, the eight cops claimed that while conducting their operation they found Badmus unresponsive from a drug overdose. This version of events was disputed by state witness, Chukwuemeka Nelson Ozor, who was in the house on the day of the incident.
Ozor told Judge Mokhine Mosopa that the police broke into the house, started searching and questioning everyone, then moved to search Badmus’s room and beat him up.
He added that one of the police officials then fetched a plastic bag that was then wrapped around the deceased’s head, suffocating him to death.
A paramedic that attended to the scene John Gous told the court that when medical officials arrived, the 25-year-old was unresponsive and sweaty with no pulse but there were no signs of physical injuries. He was declared dead on the spot.
