Teenager loses sight after SARS torture

Two years after being allegedly tortured by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad personnel in Saki, Oyo State, an 18-year-old hotel attendant, Samuel Ogundeji, has lost his sight.

Ogundeji, told PUNCH Metro that all efforts made by his parents for him to regain his sight had proved abortive, adding that three different hospitals in Saki; Ilorin, Kwara State; and a border town in Benin Republic, had confirmed that his eyes had become defective and that he would need to be operated upon abroad in order to regain his sight.

Recounting his ordeal, he said, “On January 10, 2017, I applied for the job of a bar attendant at the Neagle Club and Resort, Saki, and was offered the job on a salary of N10,000 monthly. I was in the bar till February when a girl, Oyin, who was working in the hotel, resigned; so, I was transferred to the hotel section.

“Another guy, Sola, and I began working in the hotel and we changed duties on a regular basis. But on May 1, 2017, a customer, who works at the Zenith Bank, Saki West branch, lodged at one of the rooms. And the following morning, around 6.45am, the driver came and took him to his office. That day, I was on night duty and closed around 8am and went home without any inkling that I would be dealt with for a crime I knew nothing of.

“Normally, I resumed by 8pm, but on my way home, the manager called me and said that the man (banker), who lodged at the hotel the previous night, reported that he lost his wallet in the room and I said I didn’t know of any missing item or a wallet containing some cash.

“The Chief Executive Officer, Omotoso Abdulahi Niyi, was also around and he came in and said we should look for the wallet at all cost, otherwise, we would be dealt with. And the PA to the CEO and the manager came in with SARS personnel and arrested me and Sola.

“Mr Agbo of the SARS handed us over to their colleagues, Victor and Gbenga, who took us to an uncompleted building and started beating us. While the beating lasted, blood covered my eyes, yet they didn’t stop until later in the day, when Mr Oyesikun Oyerinde Samson (manager) and the PA, Abiodun Ajibade, drove into the station and were told about my condition.

Punch