Christiana Akingboye, widow of the late businessman and politician Bamidele Akingboye, has accused the Lagos State Police Command of unlawfully releasing her husband’s body and mishandling critical evidence, despite the family being cleared of any wrongdoing by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.

Speaking at a press conference over the weekend while appealing to President Bola Tinubu, the Senate, and the Inspector-General of Police, Akingboye alleged that the police actions following her husband’s death amounted to an abuse of power, a breach of due process, and deliberate marginalisation of the deceased’s immediate family.

She said the DPP’s legal advice, issued after investigations, exonerated her and her children, effectively ending any lawful police involvement in the matter. “Once the DPP cleared my children and me, there was no criminal justification for any further interference by the police,” she said.

Akingboye further alleged that confidential investigative documents, including the DPP’s legal advice, were leaked online and circulated by a foreign-based blogger before the police formally communicated the outcome of the investigation to her family.

“The police have not officially communicated the outcome of the investigation to us to date. We only read about it online,” she said.

The widow also accused the police of mishandling her late husband’s personal belongings. She said officers collected his mobile phones and medications from her as evidence but later released the phones to her estranged stepson. “The phones were given to my estranged stepson, while the medications collected from me have not been returned,” she said.

According to her, repeated formal demands by her lawyers for the return of the deceased’s personal effects were ignored, raising concerns about breaches of investigative protocol and the chain of custody.

Akingboye said her lawyers had formally written to the police and the morgue, warning that her husband’s body and personal effects should not be released to anyone without the consent of the immediate family or a valid court order. Despite this, she said officers at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, invited both parties to a meeting on January 23, 2026.

“At that meeting, the only issue resolved was the return of our passports. The police assured us that another meeting would be held the following week to address the remaining issues,” she said, adding that no further meeting was convened. “Till now, no one has called us,” she said.

Days later, Akingboye said the family learnt through another source that her husband’s remains had been quietly released to her estranged stepson and unknown persons—without notice to her, without her consent, and without any court order. She said the mobile phones and medications collected from her also remain unreturned.

Citing the Coroner’s System Law of Lagos State, Akingboye said the role of the police is strictly investigatory and ends after the post-mortem examination and issuance of legal advice by the DPP. “After the family was exonerated, the police had no lawful authority to release my husband’s body to third parties,” she said.

She alleged that while her estranged stepson received preferential treatment, she and her children were deliberately kept in the dark. “Several petitions were written to the Inspector-General of Police, yet nothing was done to restrain these actions or ensure accountability,” she said.

Expressing concern for her safety and that of her children, Akingboye called on President Tinubu, the Senate Committee on Ethics and Public Petitions, and the IGP to order an independent investigation into the matter.

“Nigeria must not allow power to override justice, even in death,” she said. (The PUNCH)

Update news