A 56-year old Nigerian, Anthony Akinyemi, was reported to have committed suicide on December 21 in the facility of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Worcester County jail, Maryland while waiting to be deported from the US.
According to reports, Akinyemi was pronounced dead in the morning, while efforts by emergency workers to revive him proved futile.
Obinwannem has come to understand that, the deceased, entered the country as an immigrant in 2017, and was convicted of a sex offence with a minor and as a result, admitted into custody a day before he died.
Reports by the US immigration said that “ICE has previously lodged an immigration detainer against Mr Akinyemi on July 23, 2019, according to his arrest for sexual abuse of a minor,”.
“The preliminary cause of death appears to be self-inflicted strangulation; however, the case is currently under investigation.
“Consistent with the agency’s protocols, the appropriate agencies have been notified about the death, including the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility. Additionally, ICE has notified the Nigerian consulate and Mr Akinyemi’s next of kin.
“ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases. Fatalities in ICE custody, statistically, are exceedingly rare and occur at a fraction of the national average for the U.S. detained population.
“This agency’s comprehensive review will be conducted by ICE senior leadership to include Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.”
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting Obinwannem News
