A 30-year-old student of a polytechnic in Kwara State, Al-Amin Mohammed, has died after reportedly ingesting rat poison, days after he was released from the Agodi Custodial Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, following a dispute over an outstanding ₦8,000 debt.
According to a report by The PUNCH, Mohammed, who was also an aluminium worker, had reportedly borrowed ₦23,000 from a Point-of-Sale operator identified as Kazeem and had repaid ₦15,000, leaving a balance of ₦8,000.
The disagreement over the outstanding balance reportedly escalated after the POS operator allegedly seized Mohammed’s phone.
How the dispute escalated
Mohammed’s mother told PUNCH that her son went to retrieve his phone, leading to a struggle before the matter was taken to the police.
The student was reportedly detained at the Sanyo Police Station in Ibadan before being taken to court and subsequently remanded at the Agodi Custodial Centre.
The circumstances surrounding his detention and remand have generated questions from his family, who are calling for an investigation.
According to the newspaper, a magistrate later granted Mohammed bail of ₦100,000 with two sureties in like sum. His parents reportedly had to work to perfect the bail conditions before he was eventually released on September 14, 2026.
‘He was no longer himself’
His mother reportedly said that Mohammed’s condition changed after his release.
She alleged that her son became withdrawn, stopped eating properly and repeatedly spoke about the humiliation he believed he had suffered during the ordeal.
Three days after his release, on September 17, 2026, the family said Mohammed ingested rat poison at his residence in Ibadan.
He was reportedly rushed to hospital and later transferred to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where his family said he died.
Creditor denies intending harm
Kazeem, the POS operator involved in the debt dispute, reportedly expressed shock over Mohammed’s death.
He denied intending to pursue the matter beyond recovering the money and gave a different account of how the disagreement developed.
The allegations surrounding the detention, court proceedings and events preceding Mohammed’s death have not all been independently verified.
The Oyo State Police Command, according to PUNCH, said its spokesperson was not aware of the incident when contacted. A subsequent message sent to the command reportedly had not received a response when the newspaper filed its report.
Family demands investigation
Mohammed’s family is now seeking an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his detention and death.
The case has also drawn attention to how a relatively small debt dispute can escalate into a chain of events involving police detention, court proceedings and custodial remand.
Importantly, the available account does not establish that Mohammed died simply because he owed ₦8,000. Rather, the ₦8,000 balance was reportedly at the centre of the initial dispute, which subsequently escalated into a much wider ordeal before his death.
