It won’t well with policemen who take bribe-CP

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, yesterday said it shall never be well with policemen who extort citizens of the state under the pretence that the money was for him or the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr, Ibrahim Idris.

Owoseni laid the curse at the Command Headquarter, Ikeja, during a meeting with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).

The drama started after one of the transport workers told him that some policemen used to come to extort them. The man said that the police used to tell them that the money is given to Owoseni and Idris.

Owoseni cursed: “It will not be well with any policeman who said they are collecting money on my behalf or the Inspector General of Police.  Such a person will not die well! Don’t you know that you should not allow policemen to oppress you? As tax payers, you are the ones paying policemen salary so you are our masters. Don't give policemen money, take their numbers or names down and call me. I assure you that I will send policemen to arrest them. The current leadership of the police is doing everything to ensure that we change the ways things are done.”

Owoseni explained that the meeting with the transport workers was at the instance of Idris.

He said: “We decided to interact with you, to ensure that we work hand in hand and discuss as citizens of this country. We also want to discuss as residents of Lagos and to proffer solutions to the issues of using commercial vehicles to perpetrate crimes. Armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals, who were arrested in times past, confessed on how they made use of commercial vehicles to carry out their criminal activities.”

According to Owoseni, drivers are the most respected workers overseas; because of the way they relate with law enforcement agencies and collaborate on solving crimes.

He added: “I want to use this medium to enjoin you to carry out a census of all your members, identify the dedicated routes for each unit and ensure they adhere to it. This will enable the union to easily identify bad eggs among them."

The chairman of RTEAN Lagos branch, Mohammed Musa, stated that the major problems the union is facing are caused by law enforcement officers who own some of the vehicles being used as commercial vehicles. He explained that the vehicles of these policemen are not registered and not under RTEAN control.

The Chairman of NURTW Lagos branch, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede said they have set up a task force to curtail the activities of people selling alcohol and Indian hemp at motor parks.

He said: “We don’t allow anybody to collect money from one bus stop to the other outside our members who wear white and green uniform. We would continue to educate our members to shun bad conduct and companies and expose criminals. We also want to challenge the police authorities to check some of their men within the rank and file who would want to give the force a bad name.”