A pregnant woman who was in labour died after she was delayed by police officers for not wearing a face mask in the Ogun Waterside local government area – Ogun state in Nigeria.
Reports state that the deceased identified as, Waidat Adedeji, went into labour and was being rushed on a motorcycle by one of her children to the Ita-Otu General hospital when they were stopped by police officers at Sowore checkpoint.
The police officers stopped them and asked why they were not wearing face masks and disobeying the social distancing order of the state government.
The policemen allegedly delayed the motorcyclist for hours before they were released them only for the woman to die a few minutes later.
Youths in the area staged a protest blaming the police for her death. They took the woman’s corpse and dumped it at the Abigi Divisional Police Headquarters.
Speaking on the incident, Spokesperson of the Ogun state Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, denied the accusation stating that “the actions of the police officers did not cause the pregnant woman’s death”.
He claimed that “the officers did not delay the group from moving especially after noticing that the woman was in serious pains”.
The police officers stopped them and asked why they were not wearing face masks and disobeying the social distancing order of the state government.
The policemen allegedly delayed the motorcyclist for hours before they were released them only for the woman to die a few minutes later.
Youths in the area staged a protest blaming the police for her death. They took the woman’s corpse and dumped it at the Abigi Divisional Police Headquarters.
Speaking on the incident, Spokesperson of the Ogun state Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, denied the accusation stating that “the actions of the police officers did not cause the pregnant woman’s death”.
He claimed that “the officers did not delay the group from moving especially after noticing that the woman was in serious pains”.
