Joy Anyim
Two fake security personnel, alleged to be operating a commercial bus and a motorcycle, have been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Task Force).
The suspects, Rasak Oloyede and Monday Job, were arrested along Lagos -Abeokuta Expressway, and Oshodi, respectively.
Speaking on the arrest of the suspects, Chairman of the Agency, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, said while Job impersonated a Police Officer using his commercial motorcycle to scout for passengers on restricted routes, Oloyede presented himself as an Army Officer using his commercial bus for fraudulent acts.
Egbeyemi, who spoke via a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs, Adebayo Taofiq, stated that the two suspects had confessed to be impersonating security personnel, saying that they indulged in the act in order not to be accosted by genuine security officers on monitoring duties or patrol.
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The statement said, “Our intelligent reports revealed that some dubious-minded motorcyclists are now using fake Nigerian Army and Police uniform to scout for passengers on restricted routes as well as indulging in various forms of fraudulent acts across the State.
“The directive of the state government stipulates that all security personnel on an official assignment with motorcycles must be fully kitted in uniform with their identity card conspicuously displayed.”
While urging members of the public to be vigilant and desist from patronising commercial motorcyclists and bus drivers who claim to be security personnel, Egbeyemi stated that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, had directed that both suspects be charged to court for prosecution.
He further warned motorcycle operators to desist from plying all 475 restricted routes in the state, adding that they must also wear their crash helmets and possess riders permit for proper identification of the park they belong while plying other routes.
Job, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, revealed that he bought the police uniform for N7,000.
According to Job, “I was hawking before I joined Okada business over a year ago. I bought the uniform from a Police Officer who was deployed from Lagos to the northern part of the country for N7000.
“I have been wearing this Police uniform to arrest and defraud Okada riders and making at least N30,000 to N35, 000 daily, ” Job stated.
Similarly, Oloyede, who dressed as a Sergeant of the Nigerian Army, said he had been using the uniform he got from a dismissed Army personnel to escape checkpoints mounted by Traffic Officers.
He said, “ I have a Volkswagen commercial bus, with the registration number BDG149 XK, that I use in doing transport business.
“Whenever the bus had mechanical fault, I use the uniform to extort money from motorists, and I make a daily average collection of N25,000 to N40,000.”
