Moses Ayodele, a 48-year-old trailer mechanic from Ilesha, Osun State, was arrested in June 2008. Like many who suffered under the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ayodele endured a nightmarish ordeal. He recounted how SARS officers stormed his home at around 4 a.m.
According to The Punch, Ayodele was in bed with his wife when the SARS operatives raided his home. They cut the electric wires in his room and used them to tie his hands.
He alleged that the policemen were looking for someone named “Femi.” However, they tied him up with cables and took him to their vehicle. Upon arrival at the SARS office, Ayodele was subjected to relentless torture.
He described being hanged by his neck with a paint bucket tied to him while being beaten repeatedly. This horrific ordeal was inflicted on him several times.
With a trembling voice, he said, “They forced me to sign a document called ‘red biro,’ which I later discovered was a death warrant.”
On March 23, 2009, Ayodele and other suspects were taken to the Ikeja Magistrate Court. This came a day after he and three others—Kazeem, Jimoh, and Sikiru Taiwo—were coerced into signing the ‘red biro.’
Survival in the SARS cell demanded unimaginable sacrifices.
He revealed that they were sometimes forced to eat their own faeces to stay alive. They drank garri only once a month, and only if a wealthy detainee shared with them. Otherwise, they resorted to drinking water from bath buckets. Ayodele also witnessed fellow inmates die from starvation and disease. He claimed to have contracted tuberculosis and nearly died in custody.
Ayodele further shared the heartbreak of losing his mother, who had fought tirelessly for his release but passed away before he finally regained his freedom.
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