As the big brother, Uyi Aimiyekagbon would hold his sibling’s hand as they walked to school. He led his brother Harry on the right path from a young age, setting the right example.
Decades later, when the brothers – two of five siblings – moved from their native Nigeria to the UK, it was just the same when they lived together in Manchester. They looked out for each other, as brothers do.
“I grew up with Harry,” Uyi, now 49, said. “He was my best friend, my only brother, my ally. We did everything together.
“Harry was a very nice guy. He was a very good cook. He looked after me. He knew how to care of people.”
Harry, whose full name was Osagie Harrison Aimiyekagbon, worked as a security officer, assigned to jobs at hospitals and train stations. He was known for being able to diffuse tense situations, and through his work at bars in Stockport and his caring and warm-hearted personality, he earned the affectionate nickname the ‘dancing doorman’.
But that brotherly bond was destroyed in the most horrendous of circumstances. Harry’s death has left his family devastated. And it has led the family to question the actions of the police, who had been told of threats made by Harry’s killer towards him and his young son on a number of occasions previously.
But an investigation by the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has cleared all officers involved of any misconduct.
Samuel Opokiti
(Image: GMP)
A GMP spokesperson said: “We understand the family have suffered tremendously following the loss of Osagie and the importance of listening to them. In this case, we made an arrest and brought Samuel Opokiti to justice for fatally stabbing Osagie, albeit he ultimately received a hospital order.
“We know that whilst it may bring closure to the ordeal, it doesn’t bring Osagie home to his loved ones. Our thoughts remain with the family.”
“The guy who killed Harry killed me as well,” Uyi told the Manchester Evening News the day the man who took his brother’s life faced justice. “He killed the whole family.
“We are just living and hoping that one day we will get to see Harry. It’s a very difficult situation for all of us.”
Harry was repeatedly stabbed in his own home by Samuel Opokiti. The pair lived in shared accommodation together. Opokiti was suffering from schizophrenia at the time and believed he was being ‘controlled by demons’ who had ordered him to kill Harry.
Harry, who was 36 when he died, had repeatedly complained about Opokiti to the police. Opokiti had threatened to kill Harry and his son.
Harry had made calls to police, but his family claim little appeared to have been done. Such was his concern, he told his partner his young son should not come and visit him at his home.
He first complained to the police about Opokiti 11 months before his death. Back in August 2022, Harry told police that Opokiti had threatened to kill him and his son.
In a second call that month, he reported that Opokiti had pulled a knife from a kitchen drawer and told him ‘do you want it?’ Officers attended the property on Rushmere Avenue in Levenshulme on both occasions.
Harry told officers wanted Opokiti to be ‘warned’ about his behaviour. His family say this was in keeping with his kind nature and that he wanted Opokiti to be helped rather than punished. In December that year, he told police that Opokiti had ‘hit’ him, and said he had been in possession of a knife.
The following month, he again told police he had seen Opokiti with a knife. He had also told officers that he believed his housemate was suffering from mental health issues.
Even on the day of his death, Harry had called the police to report Opokiti. He said that Opokiti had threatened to kill his son, and repeated concerns about his mental health.
Police at the scene on Rushmere Avenue in Levenshulme
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Police called Harry back later that day, but within hours he would be dead. The next time they attended the property, Harry lay dying on the kitchen floor, having been subjected to a completely unprovoked, horrific knife attack.
Opokiti had suddenly begun stabbing him. By the time officers arrived, Opokiti answered the door covered in blood, ‘incoherent and unresponsive’.
It was too late for Harry, who could not be saved. “They never brought him for questioning or nothing,” Uyi says of Opokiti.
Uyi believes his brother was failed by the police. He said: “For crying out loud, he has been paying his taxes, he has been working, he has been doing his best for the community, he just needed protection.
“He did his best to stay out of trouble, but trouble came to him and he was not protected.”
It emerged during Opokiti’s sentencing hearing that an enquiry into the police’s handling of Harry’s complaints was ongoing. Judge John Potter said: “It is not the role of this court to determine the appropriateness of the actions of the police, or anyone else in responding to these earlier complaints by the deceased.
“I make it clear that I express no view about this at all, save to say that in circumstances such as this, I expect an appropriate enquiry to be undertaken by others to establish whether or not the dreadful events of the evening of July 9, 2023 could have been avoided by earlier or more effective intervention by the authorities, following complaint having been made on each occasion. Those enquiries must be allowed to take their course.”
The M.E.N. understands Greater Manchester Police referred themselves to the IOPC in relation to the incident. Following the hearing, the IOPC told the M.E.N. that a report into the investigation is being finalised, but said that no findings of misconduct or gross misconduct had been made against police officers or staff involved.
It is a tragedy which has left a young boy without a father, and a devastated family seeking answers.
On Tuesday, Samuel Opokiti, 30, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He was sentenced to a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, with a section 41 restriction order also being imposed. It means that Opokiti can only be discharged from Ashworth high secure hospital with the agreement of the Secretary of State.