Three policemen, who followed a suspected
fraudster into a banking hall to withdraw money meant for bribe from his
account have been arrested and dismissed.
The policemen, Sergeant Okechukwu
Okpokwu, Sergeant Idemudia Monday and Corporal Bienonwu Richard were all
attached to Area C Police Command, Surulere, Lagos State.
Trouble started for the policemen after
they sighted a car while on a ‘Stop and Search’ duty along Thomas and accused
the driver of being a fraudster.
Although the driver, who was in the car
with a friend tried to deny the allegations, but a bank alert, which came into
his phone while the argument was still on, belied his claims.
Rather than arrest him, the policemen
insisted they wanted a piece of the action. They followed the suspect to the
nearest First Bank branch in the area, to withdraw some money.
The policemen would have got away with
the illegal transaction, but for the Close Circuit Television (CCTV), in the
banking hall which caught the transaction.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Fatai Owoseni, was said to have been so furious with the policemen that he
ordered for their arrest and orderly room trial. They were subsequently later
dismissed and charged with armed robbery.
A police source said that the suspected
fraudster was driving a Honda Accord car (End of Discussion), white in colour,
when he was flagged down by the policemen. The policemen carried out a search
of the car. They accused the driver and his occupants of being cyber
fraudsters, but they denied. The policemen seized their phones and ATM cards.
The source said: “Unfortunately for the
driver, at that precise moment, a bank alert entered his phone. The alert
allegedly implicated them as being cyber fraudsters. The policemen were happy.
They asked the suspects the meaning of such an alert. The suspects started
begging. The policemen said they would collect N1m or arrest them.”
It was gathered that while this haggling
with the suspects was going on, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP),
who was in charge of the team, sat in the police patrol van with the police
driver, unaware that his men were making a deal that would change their lives.
After haggling and begging, the
policemen agreed to accept N350, 000.
The driver told the policemen that he
wouldn’t be able to withdraw N350, 000 with his ATM card. He said that he
needed to go to bank to make withdrawal. One of the policemen, Okechukwu, said
he would go with him.
The police source said: “Before leaving
for the bank, Okechukwu went and changed from his uniform, into a mufti. He
went to his team leader, the ASP, who was inside the patrol van, to tell him
that he needed a few minutes break. All this while, he held unto the ATM cards
and phones of the suspects. He didn’t want them to escape. He followed them to the
nearest First bank branch there. The driver first used his ATM card to withdraw
some money, but he couldn’t get up to N350, 000; he decided to cash the rest
over the counter. Okechukwu followed him into the banking hall. After the
driver collected the money, he handed it over to Okechukwu, but Okechukwu refused
to collect it. He wanted to know if the money was complete. The suspect told to
count it. He proceeded to count it.”
Assured that the money was complete,
Okechukwu handed the seized phones to the driver and his friend and went back
to his duty post.
When the driver got home, he narrated
his experience to a friend. The friend narrated it to a policeman stationed at
Police headquarters, Ikeja. The matter was taken to Owoseni.
Owoseni ordered that the Deputy Commissioner
of Police (DCP), in charge of operations, should investigate the matter. A
radio message was sent that the policemen should report to the command.
When they walked into the DC’s office,
they sighted the suspect and were shocked.
The DC told the suspect to narrate his
story. He did. The policemen said they had never set eyes on the suspect, let
alone to have received N350, 000 from him.
When the ASP heard the story, he was
shocked. He said he wasn’t aware of such an incident and didn’t know or
recognise the suspect.
The suspect told the DC that it was just
the three policemen, Okechukwu, Monday and Richard that searched his car and
later transacted with him.
The suspect stressed that the ASP was
inside the police van, with a police driver. The policemen still denied the
allegation, insisting that the suspect fabricated lies against them.
The DC became infuriated and went to
report the latest development to Owoseni. The policemen were brought before
Owoseni. Owoseni begged them to tell him the truth and bring out the money.
Owoseni said if they told the truth and
bring out the money; he would apologise to the suspect, hand the money over and
forget the matter. But the policemen
remained adamant in their denial.
The CP became confused and decided to
question the suspect, turned complainant further. The driver stuck to his
story.
Determined to dig out the truth, Owoseni
took over the investigation himself. He went to the bank and convinced the bank
manager to play the bank’s CCTV recording.
Owoseni presented the recording to the
policemen, but Okechukwu, even though he saw himself collecting and counting
money in the screen, still said the image wasn’t him. Owoseni got angry.
Owoseni ordered that the men should go on
orderly room trial. It was during the trial that they owned up to their crime
and brought out the money.
The police source said: “While this was
happening, the Area C Commander was not around. The Acting Area Commander was
called on the matter, and without thinking twice, started defending the men. He
said they were innocent. The CCTV was played for him. The CP issued him query
and later suspended him. The ASP and driver were pardoned.”
Last week Friday, their signal came out;
the three of them were dismissed. The CP further instructed that they should be
detained and charged to court for robbery.
“The CP said they held gun, followed
someone into banking hall to collect money. He said it was robbery,” said the
source.
He added: “There are allegations that
Richard used to hunt suspected drug pushers and cyber fraudsters in Surulere
and was always collecting money from them. It was also believed that he knows
that particular suspect that led to his downfall. He was also described as a
very rich man and terrorist to residents of Surulere. If they had brought out
the money earlier, the CP would have pardoned them.”
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