Court finds police liable for Nigerian man's suffocation during raid

The taxpayer will once again have to foot the damages costs of more than R2.6 million awarded to the partner of a Nigerian citizen who was, on the face of it, suffocated to death by members of the police during a raid at his home.

The SAPS simply gave a blank denial of being involved in the death of the man only identified by the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, as B.

They claimed that he took drugs and simply died after he had a seizure. But a post-mortem report stated that he had no drugs in his system and that he had died of asphyxia.

The court, in awarding the damages, frowned upon the evidence of the police officers who were present when B died. It was noted that they were being far from frank with the court about what happened that day.

The life partner of B, the applicant in this case, told the court of the hardships she had to endure after his death.

She was pregnant at the time of the incident and she now has to make do with a social grant. B, who worked at a restaurant, had financially supported her before his death.

The applicant said she had no idea what happened at his home on the day of the incident, but at some stage, she started receiving messages of condolences for the passing of her boyfriend. She later found out that he was killed by the police through suffocation, she said.

A doctor, who examined the body after the incident, meanwhile, told the court that he concluded that the deceased died of lack of oxygen supply to the brain, which was as a result of suffocation. The toxicology report revealed that there were no drugs detected in his body.

The post-mortem examination also found abrasions around the wrists and lower back of B, which were attributed to him being cuffed.

The police, meanwhile, called no expert witnesses to challenge these findings. The court was told that the sudden death of her partner had a profound impact on the applicant’s life, both emotionally and financially. She also had to see to his burial, as he had no family in the country.

The birth of their child with autism has introduced additional caregiving responsibilities, further increasing her emotional and physical stress levels.

The applicant said she is upset about the  lack of accountability – there has been no formal acknowledgment, accountability, or justice regarding the actions of the police officers allegedly responsible for the deceased’s death.

Two police officers, meanwhile, testified that they were busy with a crime prevention operation when they were told that drugs were being sold at the home of the deceased. Without having a search warrant, they went to the house and found the deceased. 

After having found dagga in the room, they then handcuffed the deceased from behind. When they were leaving the house, the deceased asked for water and they gave him water. Immediately after that, the deceased fell on his head and “started to fit”, one officer explained.

Another testified that he saw the deceased taking something from his pants and swallowing it, before he had an epileptic fit.

In finding the police liable for his death, the court remarked that according to the evidence, the deceased was with the police until he died and the police did not refute the expert evidence that he died of asphyxiation.

Cape Times