A Pakistani man has committed suicide in the cell of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in Lagos, leading to the arrest of officers for alleged dereliction of duty.
After the incident, which happened on Tuesday, October 14, officers who were supposed to be on guard were handed over to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, Lagos, for interrogation.
The man reportedly hanged himself with a thread.
It was learnt that no one knew his identity when he was arrested because a passport was not found on him.
His arrest was said to have been approved by NIS Assistant Comptroller General (Zone A), N. A. Ibrahim, based on a petition written by a Nigerian lady who claimed they were lovers but that the man threatened her life.
TheNiche investigation revealed that the Palestani and the lady used to live together as lovers before the man, who was in his early 30s, fell out with his lovebird, leading to the petition to the Immigration office, which promptly arrested him.
The lady was said to have complained to the NIS that each time they wanted to make love, the Pakistani would bring out a dagger with which he threatened her.
“The lady is, now in trouble as the police and the Immigration would not let her go as she is being invited to help them in their investigations,” said a source.
A passport recovered after the man’s death revealed his identity as a Pakistani, but he entered Nigeria through Ghana, which meant he was not granted Nigerian visa.
An immigration assistant and a junior officer who were on duty on the day of the incident were initially detained at Panti, then transferred to Abuja.
Two other officers, Emmanuel Oraelosi and one Kehinde, who arrested the deceased were summoned to Abuja on Thursday, October 16.
Ibrahim’s personal assistant was also summoned.
NIS Provost Marshall, One Ebohi, an Assistant Superintendent, reportedly explained that the incident happened because Ibrahim’s personal assistant withdrew the two officers on guard duty to go and welcome Interior Minister, Abba Moro, who was visiting Lagos.
An email request to the Pakistani embassy in Abuja for comment was not replied at press time.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident, saying that Immigration officers were brought to Panti as “part of our investigation” and were left to go that same day.
NIS Public Relations Officer, Obuah Chukwuma, also confirmed the incident and said the authorities are considering all sides of the incident and its implication for relations between Nigeria and Pakistan.
They “are still looking at and investigating the circumstances under which the incident took place. We learnt that the comptroller general hopes to address a world press conference this week after the authorities would have carried out their investigation,” Chukwuma disclosed.
