Eight police officers were arrested last Friday in connection with the October 2017 torture and murder of a Nigerian student in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, South Africa’s police watchdog said.
In a statement, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said the six male and two female officers are accused of interrogating and suffocating 25-year-old Olamilekan Badmus last year.
“According to the police, they had found drugs on the deceased but this was a false story to cover up the torture and murder of the deceased,” Ipid said.
“There was a huge outcry from the Nigerian community when the death was discovered. At the time, the police also alleged that they were attacked by ‘drug dealers’.”
A post-mortem, conducted by two pathologists, confirmed Badmus had been tortured, the statement said.
The watchdog added its investigation resulted in “hostility” from members of the SA Police Service.
The suspects will appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Monday after the Director for Public Prosecutions gave the go-ahead for the eight officers to be charged with torture and murder.