A Lagos-based artisan, Kehinde Adesina, has alleged that a yet-to-be-identified man, who impersonated one of the policemen attached to the Idimu Police Station stole his mobile phone.
Adesina said the theft occurred on the premises of the station in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State when the suspect disguised as though he was helping him (Adesina) negotiate the bribe to pay to officers who seized his car.
The 35-year-old artisan was arrested on Tuesday, June 6, for violating the traffic rule in the state.
He alleged that he refused to pay the N20,000 bribe demanded from him by the officers to release his vehicle so they took it to the station.
While at the station, he was instructed to either pay N10,000 or leave their office.
He said he was deliberating on what to do when the unknown suspect approached him, introduced himself as a policeman and offered to assist him in securing the release of his vehicle.
Narrating his ordeal, the artisan said, “When we got to the police station, the policemen asked me to pay N20,000 for my offence and later reduced it to N10,000 but I told them I don’t that amount and they asked me to leave.
“So, a man wearing a mufti approached and offered to help me talk to the policemen. He went into their office to discuss with them, returned and demanded N3000 for the policemen and my phone to make a call.
“When I gave him the phone, he went back into the office to meet the policemen and later came out to inform me that one of the policemen, Supol Peter, needed a recharge card. Supol Peter also came out and said I should buy Airtel and not an MTN recharge card.”
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On returning from the store he went to purchase the recharge card, the suspect was nowhere to be found.
He continued, “When I asked the policeman (Supol Peter) for the man’s whereabouts, he said he thought he was my brother.
Adesina added that Supol Peter started abusing him for giving his phone to a stranger, noting that the policemen quickly gave him the key to his car but denied him access to make an official complaint about his stolen phone.
When the artisan returned to lodge an official complaint, the female officers at the counter demanded N3000 before allowing Adeshina to write a statement for an investigation to commence on the matter.
Despite lamenting that it was a case of theft that happened at the station the policewomen ensured that he parted with N1000 before he was able to lodge a complaint and thereafter directed him to the office of the policemen who arrested him for a traffic offence in the state.
The case of theft was confirmed by six policemen including Supol Peter.
“He (Adeshina) said the man (suspect) was his brother. It was when he brought the recharge card that I got to know that he was not. That was why we gave him the car key and we also told him to get the pack of the phone so that we can track it,” Supol Peter said.
The leader of the police squad involved in apprehending Adeshina for the traffic offence, one Baale, said the fleeing suspect almost scammed another person earlier before he stole the artisan’s phone.
A yet-to-be-identified female officer, who interfered in the matter, also confirmed cases of theft in the station.
She said, “It (phone stealing) did not happen in this station alone. It also happened in some police stations around. This is not the first time. The phone of this woman sitting here was also stolen here on this table.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “I don’t see anything wrong in two civilians talking in a police station. He gave someone his phone and the person went away with the phone. It’s his carelessness.
“We will investigate the whereabouts of the person who collected the phone and the money for him to come and tell us who exactly offered or demanded bribe between the officer and the man.”