Lagos police parade fake commissioner, lawyer, pat itself on the back
The police in Lagos have paraded 13 crime suspects in the state.
Written By Dedeigbo Ayodeji Samson
Posted By Town Crier News Nigeria
Published By Fitness Network Communications
Among the suspects were a fake police commissioner and another man, who posed as a lawyer.
Addressing newsmen during the parade, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, patted the police on the back for a job well done.
Parading the suspects, barely two weeks after a similar exercise by the state Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, Hundeyin disclosed that the state police had remained relentless in waging war against crime and criminality within Lagos State.
He said: “We have a total of 13 suspects here today, who were involved in various criminal activities, including armed robbery, unlawful possession of controlled substances, impersonation, defilement, and armed robbery. And we also have an array of arms, weapons, ammunition, and other exhibits recovered, which are on display there.
“First, I would like to talk about the case of impersonation. There is one Nwagu Emmanuel, who parades himself as a Commissioner of Police. And to make his claim authentic, he also has a fake ID card of a Commissioner of Police.
“Everything is on display there, you will see. He actually came into the police headquarters and was about to facilitate or request the release of a hardened criminal in our custody. Of course, he introduced himself as Commissioner of Police, and that was as far as he could convince us.
“Further questioning, where are you serving, and some other things, he gave himself away, and has been arrested.
“Investigation reveals that he has been doing this for quite some time. So, only God knows how many civilians he has been able to convince that he’s a police officer and got away with some unscrupulous things.
“However, we’re happy that he has been arrested today and is here, and immediately after this parade, he’s going to be arraigned for impersonation.”
Apart from the fake policeman, a fake lawyer was also apprehended.
He added: “We also have another interesting case of impersonation. This was reported to us by the Nigerian Bar Association, Epe branch.
“They reached out to us to let us know about somebody that has been calling himself a lawyer for years now. He would always appear in court; he would always wear the robe and have law books, and non-suspecting Nigerians would always approach him for whatever legal advice or services they needed.
“We have been able to arrest him today. His name is Ibrahim Bello. He was actually arrested in court with his robe, looking like a real lawyer. He’s here. We will even discretionarily allow you to speak to him so that he can explain to us what pushed him into this and for how long he has been doing this.
The PORO also disclosed the arrest of a female drug dealer.
He said: “We have also been able to arrest a woman, a lady, Ganiatone, 40 years old, in the Igbo area of Ikorodu. She sells drugs, hard drugs. She was arrested with quite an array of these drugs – 97 wraps of Kolos, 22 wraps of Loud, some mixture of Loud and Arizona, and some other hard drugs. And found in her possession was 271,600 naira, which was the sales she had made for that day before she was arrested.
“She has been arrested, the drugs have been recovered, and she’s also going to be prosecuted.”
Hundeyin also revealed how quality intelligence by the public led to the recovery of deadly arms and ammunition from suspected cultists in the state, who fled on sighting the police.
“Sometime last week, some members of the community in some area of Lagos State reached out to their DPO to complain about the presence of some boys or some young men in an uncompleted building.
“And they had reasons to believe that they were not there for anything good, so they called the DPO to just run a check. And the DPO led his men, went to that place. Upon sighting police officers, these young men took to their heels, and the building was searched.
“And in the building was found a carton, a biscuit carton. And the carton was also opened, and we found a semi-automatic pistol, Smith & Wesson, that has the capacity for 14 ammunition. But it was found with 11 live ammunition, 9mm ammunition.
“That’s a deadly weapon that was found in that building. Our investigation has commenced. We have reasons to believe it’s connected to cultism, and it was dropped by some cultists in the area. But like I said, investigations have commenced. But we’re happy that in the same area, they have one less weapon, circulating in the society.
“Also, we have a case of stealing. Someone parked his car somewhere in Odono, Fowija area of Epe. He parked the car, and before he came back, some people had stolen the car. So, he reached out to the police, and the police mobilized its men and went in pursuit of that car.
“I think those people got wind of the fact that police were on their trail. And somewhere along Lagos – Badagry Expressway, they quickly abandoned the car and fled. But not before we were able to arrest one of them, Bamise Omotayo.
“He’s also there. We were able to arrest him. We were also able to recover the Volvo car, though we could not bring it here today because it’s having some mechanical issues. The manner in which they ditched the car, we could not bring it here today.
Also in police are suspected robbers, who attacked victims from street to street.
“But we’re happy that we responded swiftly to a Nigerian’s distress call. We went in hot pursuit and were able to get the car. Somewhere in the Ujoko area, we also received a distress call that some young men, four in number, were moving from street to street with their locally made weapons, robbing passersby,” Hundeyin said.
“Just snatching phones, collecting money, and all that. So, the DPO and his men moved to that scene. By the time they got there, they met these young men in a pharmacy. They had moved from the streets to the pharmacy. They were now robbing the attendants at the pharmacy.
“But we got there and were able to arrest two of them, while two escaped. One escaped on their motorcycle. They came with a motorcycle. We were able to arrest two. Kazim Jimoh, aged 34, and Saeed Jalili, also aged 34.
“Recovered from them were two locally made pistols with two live cartridges, one expended cartridge, two wristwatches, five mobile phones, and N482,000.
“In Iba, four young men, just like the case I explained, four young men in the same manner would rob passersby. They also had a gun.”
The police spokesperson commended the residents, who have faith in the police as to give intelligence to enable operatives of the law to respond in times of distress.
“We know some people would say, what would the police do? But the taste of the pudding is in the eating. For those who have that confidence to call us, we’re happy that most times, if not every time, most times we deliver.
“In Iba, somebody’s iPhone 6 was stolen. He reached out to the police and we responded. We were able to arrest these four young men. They are here. The iPhone, even though they are told this, by the time we arrested them, we were still able to continue with our investigation.
“We were able to recover the phone, and the weapon they used. They are also going to be prosecuted. We’re happy that, as we speak today, we have at least 13 criminals and hardened criminals off the streets. That’s it for the past two weeks.
“Just a carefully selected number of cases. Not all the cases. We have much more than this. The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, C.P. Owomwa, assures Lagosians that with their continued support, we will continue to record successes in our joint fight against crime and criminality within the state,” he reported.
Observations were made that there have been situations where people lack the confidence in police, or where on getting to those stations, you find discourteous policemen at the entrance gate of most of the police divisions in Lagos, or a situation whereby policemen see somebody in distress and be chasing them out, using uncivilized languages against people who, for whatever reason, go to those stations to lodge complaints.
I had a personal experience where we actually went to a station to inform the division of somebody in possession of arms. The way the complainants were treated was so uncivilized.
However, Hundeyin assured: “We do not condone unprofessional behavior on the part of our men. But I would appreciate it if we could make this more specific. Because I know it’s not in every station. So, let’s try, maybe after this, or if you want to say it now, let’s know the specific division where this is happening so that we can put the DPO to task. Let him know that there are complaints against his division. And we’ll give them a week to see if there’s any change. And if there’s no change, it would actually be a basis for changing the DPO. It’s not too much to change a DPO based on that. So, please, give us your complaints.”
