Policemen arrested for alleged robbery in Lagos
Four policemen attached to the Ijanikin Division of the Lagos State Police Command have been arrested for alleged robbery.
The men were said to have robbed one Mr Theodore Ifunnaya, a Nigerian based in Togo, of 350,000 CFA (about N221, 508) at Iyana-Era in Badagry area of the state on Dec. 17.
Spokesman of the command, Mr Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent of Police, confirmed the arrest on Wednesday to newsmen.
Oti said that the arrest was in the spirit of the command’s zero tolerance for corruption, and disclosed that the officers were already facing orderly room trial.
According to him, if they are found guilty, they will be dismissed.
He gave the names of the policemen as Insp. Victor Amiete, Sgt. Gbemunu Samuel, Sgt. Afolabi Oluwaseun and Cpl. Adigun Omotayo.
Oti said that the matter had been transferred to the Provost Section of the command for investigation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the officers subjected their victim to rigorous search and interrogation during which they discovered the money on him.
They were alleged to have bundled him into their patrol vehicle to Ijanikin police division where they seized the money and invited a Bureau de Change operator to exchange the CFA for Naira.
NAN gathered that, satisfied that they had subdued the victim, they allegedly released him and gave him N2, 000 to go.
It was further learnt that after his freedom from the policemen, the man narrated his ordeal to his family, which subsequently lodged a complaint to the Area Commander, Mr Hope Okafor.
The area commander, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, was said to have intervened and recovered the money and arrested the policemen.