While policemen were on the trail of a suspect in Ijora Badiya recently, the suspect entered house number 3, Filani Street, off Gasikiya Road, Apapa Iganmu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State and escaped through the back door.

The policemen rushed into the house to effect the arrest of the suspect, and Alimat Ibrahim, 45, mother of six and resident of the house was allegedly hit with the butt of the gun by one of the policeman. The woman slumped and was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors confirmed her dead.

One of the children of the deceased, Yusuf Ibrahim has accused the policemen of killing his mother, who hailed from Apado area of Ilorin in Kwara State.

Yusuf said: “As policemen were pursuing a criminal, the suspect entered our house through the front and escaped through the back door. We were near the well fetching water.

“When one of my brothers, who was sitting outside the house, saw policemen running towards our house, he was frightened and ran inside to my mother. The policemen went after him, tried drag him off our mother and in the process, they hit her with the butt of their gun. My mother collapsed and later died when nobody cared for her.”

However, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ijora Badiya Police Station, CSP Salaudeen Usman, who said he visited the scene of the incident denied the allegation that police hit the deceased with the butt of a gun.

Usman said: “My men did not just hit the woman with the butt of the gun. Though the children claimed there was no care for the deceased when she collapsed, but she died in a hospital. Area Boys (social miscreants) even burnt down the police patrol van that carried the woman to a nearby hospital.”

P.M.NEWS learnt that the deceased, who was hypertensive, may have died of shock. Neighbours told our reporter that the deceased may have died of a heart-related ailment, since she was known to be hypertensive before the incident.