42-year- old Hamani Tijani, Robbery Kingpin Dies in Prison

42-year- old Hamani Tijani, a suspected cross-border robbery kingpin, died on Sunday after suffering partial stroke for nine months at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons in Lagos.

DSP Biyi Jeje, the spokesman for the Nigerian Prisons Service, Lagos Command, confirmed this to journalists in Lagos.

Jeje said that Tijani died at about 9.00 am in the clinic of the maximum prison. http://allafrica.com/stories/201401200551.html

He said that the service had earlier invited the state officials to examine Tijani's health in December for possible transfer to another hospital.

According to him, a team of medical experts were sent to the prison by the Lagos State Government before Christmas to examine him, but the outcome of their findings was not made available.

Tijani, a citizen of Niger Republic, was arrested sometimes in September 2003 in Cotonou, Benin Republic, and moved to Abeokuta, Ogun State, briefly before he was transferred to Kirikiri.

The deceased spent 11 years in prison custody while his trial was still ongoing before his death.