THE Lagos State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos, has been deserted by people who have cases to attend to, owing to the death of a coronavirus patient, Chukwudi Julius, who had been detained there.
It was gathered that Julius died after spending two weeks in police custody.
He was tested positive for the dreaded virus at a Lagos Isolation center.
Meanwhile, police officers and detainees were not sure of their health status, as of the time of filing this report, since Julius reportedly died as a result of COVID-19 complications.
The 48-year-old businessman was said to have been arrested and detained on May 22, 2020, following his alleged complicity in one Obinali Osuwoke’s fraud case, involving the sum of N75 million.
He was arrested by operatives of the Anti-Fraud Unit of the SCIID, along with his wife, Ogochukwu, who was later released in the evening of the same day. He however, died in Police custody on Saturday June 6, 2020.
It was said that the Police ignored doctors’ advice that Julius, a hypertensive patient, should be granted bail when it became obvious that his health had deteriorated in custody.
It was also gathered that the deceased was improperly detained for about 15 days before he was released on the eve of his death on June 5.
Journalists, it was gathered, had been avoiding the centre because of the uncertainty surrounding the actual number of those who might have had contact with Julius while in detention.
Some of the officers working there were said to have gone spiritual by embarking on fasting and prayer, including ingestion of local herbs to avert any danger of Coronavirus.
It was not certain if the Police authorities had taken any steps to sanitise the SCIID as at press time, but it was gathered that work had slowed down as one of the measures taken by the CP was not to approve petition to decongest the SCIID.
