Hospital Allegedly Seizes Body Of 20-Year-Old Fashion Designer Killed By Police Over “N50 Bribe”

The family of 20-year-old Ayomide Taiwo, who died at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital in Osogbo, has accused the management of the hospital of seizing his corpse over unpaid bills.

Recall that Taiwo, a fashion designer died on August 9, 2020, days after one Inspector Ago Egharevba, attached to Obokun Divisional Police Headquarters, allegedly hit him on the head with the butt of his gun over N50 bribe.

The incident happened at a checkpoint in Iragbiji, Boripe Local Government Area of Osun State on August 3, while the deceased was returning to his base in Owena, Ondo State, after celebrating Eid-el-Kabir, with his widowed mother.

Adebayo, a younger brother of the deceased told PREMIUM TIMES that the police did not assist them to settle the hospital bills

“After Ayomide was confirmed dead, we were given another bill of N79,000 to pay at LAUTECH to claim the body. Unfortunately, the money I had alongside my mum that day was just N11,000. I called the police DPO to inform him but he shouted at me on the phone that we should ‘dump’ him (the corpse) in the mortuary.” he said.

Speaking to PT on Tuesday, November 17, Adebayo said that his brother’s remains were still at the LAUTECH mortuary and called for the assistance of members of the public to recover the body for burial.

“It has been there since August because we are unable to pay the debt the hospital claimed we incurred when they were treating him and the more it stays in the hospital, the higher our debt,” he lamented.

“Our mother has become terribly sick due to the delay. She can now hardly go out as life has become miserable for us,” he added.

When contacted, the Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH teaching hospital, Babatunde Olaitan, said he was not aware of the specific case of Mr Taiwo, as there are many such cases at the hospital.