A 20-year-old man has been allegedly tortured to death by some Nigerian Air Force personnel in Kaduna over theft.

Daily Trust gathered that the man identified as Abdulsalam Samaila was a labourer who engaged in some jobs in the NAF base before he met his death.

It was further gathered that Abdulsalam, a resident of Hayin Banki was picked up by the soldiers alongside two others on Wednesday and taken to the base where they were tortured.

Counsel to the victim's family, Barrister Adamu Yusuf of Mamman Nasir & Co. Chambers who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said the incident has been reported to the Kawo Divisional Police Station.

He further noted that his chamber will write a petition to the Chief of Air Staff and other relevant authorities to ensure that justice is done.

Narrating the incident to Daily Trust, Barrister Adamu said, "My client, a labourer and two others were arrested by soldiers from the NAF base on Wednesday after they raided a house in Hayin Banki over an alleged theft at an officer's house in the base."

"The two boys, after being beaten severely, brought out the items they had stolen, unfortunately, my client was unable to bring out any item and they beat him on the head which eventually led to his death."

"I am not saying my client is innocent, but the soldiers do not have the right to torture him and they have no right to hold him for over 24 hours. They ought to have handed him over to the police and allow the law to take its course, instead, they beat him to death."

Asked how he got news of the death of his client, he said, "The soldiers came to the family house of late Abdulsalam, they met the mother and asked her to come and take the corpse and that they will foot all the bills, that is how the story came out."

He added, "The soldiers said they want to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of his death, but we are insisting that the autopsy is done in a civilian hospital so that there is transparency in the result."

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer, Air Training Comand, Kaduna, Squadron Leader Reginald Ovasi said preliminary investigation has commenced to ascertain the true picture of the incident.

•Culled from Daily Trust report

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