Corporal returns to police after dismissal for robbery

Detectives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos Police Command, Ikeja, are still trying to unravel how a police corporal who was dismissed for robber, found his way back into the force. The suspect, Telma Bintiu, attached to Mopol 43, Lion Building, Lagos Island, took to robbery like duck to water. His secret sin was soon discovered and he was kicked out of the force in 2007.
Bintiu was charged to court and sentenced to prison.
After serving a three-year prison term, he mysteriously enlisted back into the police. Bintiu did not only return to the police, he also allegedly went back to robbery. When Bintiu joined the police in 2003, he received his training at the Kaduna Police College. He was arrested for robbery at Imeko in Ogun State in 2007, with four other suspects.
Two locally-made pistols and 20 rounds of cartridges were recovered from them. Bintiu faced an orderly room trial; he was found guilty and dismissed the same year. The suspect, who is from Plateau State, was said to have served at the Force Headquarters, Obalende, after his re-enlistment into police and his sojourn in prison. A police source said: “He was working at the Force Headquarters when another robbery happened.
A container was hijacked at gunpoint. Information got to the police about the hijacked container and investigation started. He was traced and arrested. The police did not know then he was a policeman. He was arrested, just like other suspects, in connection with the hijacking of the container valued at millions of naira. “During interrogation, antirobbery detectives discovered an identity card on him which showed that he was a policeman, working with Mopol 43.”
Investigators alerted Mopol 43 Squadron Commander, who admitted knowing him, but explained that Bintiu had been dismissed since 2007 for robbery.” In the latest arrest, two locally- made guns were recovered from him. “He was arrested at Festac area. The police discovered that he went there to sell hijacked container at a garage owned by one Baba Saidi. Baba Saidi is a notorious receiver of stolen goods,” another police source said.
The suspect is still in police custody and will be charged again for armed robbery. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kenneth Nwosu, said he was not aware of the story, but would find out and get back to our correspondent. He, however, did not call at press time.