A 52-year old woman, identified as Titilayo,on Tuesday slumped and died a few minutes after she was arraigned at a Federal High Court in Benin for drug peddling.
The deceased, who was arrested by the Edo State Task Force and handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), was accused of peddling substance believed to be hard drug.
The deceased was said to have been in the custody of the agency for close to three months before she was brought to the court on Tuesday.
Witnesses said that the deceased had been experiencing health challenges while in the NDLEA custody with little medical attention.
One of the witnesses said that when she drew the attention of one of the anti- drug agency personnel to the deceased’s condition in the court, the officer didn’t pay requisite attention to her.
“By the time NDLEA officer made effort to lift her up, she was already cold, completely dead. The woman’s son went berserk when he discovered that his mother was dead”, the witness added.
However, Edo Commander of the NDLEA, Mitchell Ofoyeju, denied the allegations of negligence on the part of his men as the cause of the death.
He hinted that there was nothing to suggest the deceased was not physically fit to stand trial when he was being taken to the court.
He added:”It is not true what they are saying. She was arraigned and there was no issue that she was not physically fit. She personally walked to the car, got to the court and came down herself. What happened is not something you can start trading blame.
“She was arrested by the Edo State task force and transferred to the NDLEA. She was arrested for selling Loud.
“What happened was a mistaken identity. When she collapsed, it attracted a crowd and there were other suspects. The officers had to secure other accused persons to avoid their dispersion with the crowd.
“The crowd thought my men were running away. My men were not attacked.”