Two policemen in the dock for stealing colleague’s car
The police is supposed to protect lives and property but what do you
make of a situation where they turn out to be the thieves?
When a police officer becomes a thief, the public is in trouble.(Nigeria Police Force)
Two police officers, Sunday Ibrahim and Zakari
Abdulahi, have been dragged to the Senior Magistrates' Court in Karu,
the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, for allegedly conniving with one
Saidu Abdul to steal a car belonging to a fellow police officer,John
Yiltie, at the City Gate Police Barracks, Abuja.
The
owner of the car, Yiltie, said he had parked the vehicle, an Honda
Academy, at the premises of the African Church in Durumi, a suburb of
the city on 8 June, 2014, only to discover it had been stolen when he
returned to pick it.
He narrated that he promptly
reported the matter to Garki Police Station from where the matter was
later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, FCT
Command, for further action.
The bubble, however,
bust on the suspects when the police commenced investigation into the
matter. The first set of suspects who were arrested include Luke Musa,
Niyi Adedeji and Peter Aku.
They were traced
through a BlackBerry chat and other phone conversations. In the course
of investigation, Sunday Ibrahim, a police officer who was recently
transferred from Kaduna Command to FCT Command, was named as an
accomplice.
While being interrogated by
operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) in Abuja, the
policeman allegedly confessed that he did not steal the car but merely
escorted the prime suspect, Saidu Ibrahim, with the car to Kaduna. At
Kaduna, he continued, the car was sold for N250,000 as against the
original price of N1.3 million.
When John Yiltie
gave witness in court, the prime suspect changed his initial plea of not
guilty and pleaded guilty to the charge. He pleaded for mercy and
forgiveness. The Magistrate, Hadiza Rabiu Shagari, in the light of the
prime suspect’s plea, summarily tried and convicted him of the offence.
She sentenced him to one month imprisonment or a fine of N3,000.
Meanwhile,
the stolen car has been recovered and returned to the owner on bond
while the two police officers were remanded in prison custody till the
next adjourned date.
No comments:
Post a Comment