Christopher Oji, Lagos
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested three suspected robbers who were reportedly operating in police uniforms.
The suspects were arrested in Ikorodu area of the state by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) after they snatched a commercial motorcycle (“okada”) from its rider.
The suspects were putting on police vests and fez caps when they hijacked the motorcycle.
The suspects, Michael, 24, in company with two other accomplices, Ogeh, 27, and Ojomeje, 29, were arrested in Ita – Maga area of Ikorodu.
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Two of the suspects (Ojomeje and Ogeh) were caught in MOPOL and police vests and fez caps while trying to escape after collecting the okada.
The suspects operating on Michael’s okada in the area had at around 10 p.m accosted another okada rider, stopped him and dispossessed him of his motorcycle. They were said to have lied to the victim that they were police officers from a nearby police station.
The victim thinking that the suspects were policemen, released his okada to the suspects, but then they zoomed off with the okada. The victim afterwards raised an alarm which attracted passers-by and the operatives of RRS operatives who gave the thieves a hot chase, arresting them a few metres from the scene.
According to the Ojomeje, the leader of the gang, “in July 2019, men in police uniform collected my okada at Ikorodu Bus Stop. They told me that they were members of a task force team from Ebute police station. They asked me to meet them there while they took the okada away. I went from Ebute police station to Ijede, Mola and Ladigboye police post, but there was no trace of them.
“I had a MOPOL vest at home thrown away by a former neighbour in Obalende. I appealed to Michael to lend me his sister’s husband’s police uniform. The plan was to get a motor bike for me and later on I would pay them too after I might have finished paying my debt.
“While I put on the MOPOL vest, Ogeh, a food stuff seller, put on the police vest and fez cap. At around 10 p.m we set out using Michael’s okada to Ita Maga. We collected a bike but we were arrested,” he confessed.
The suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID),Panti, Yaba for further investigation.
Reacting to the development, the state Commissioner of Police, Muazu Zubairu, stated that the police would not relent in their efforts at bringing to book criminals who impersonate the police.