A fake police officer arrested by the Lagos Police Command has said that he made N10,000 every two hours posing as a policeman and extorting money from motorists. He was ultimately apprehended by policemen attached to the command’s monitoring team last Thursday at the Costain Roundabout, Iponri.
The police gave his name as Austin Okwuokei. The 33 year old charlatan hails from Ogwashi-Uku Delta State. Okwuokei allegedly started extorting motorists in the state last year, after he arrived from Edo State, where he has his family. Series of complaints against him and his activities led to his arrest. He confessed to the allegations and told the police, in a statement, that he bought the fake police shirt in Edo State.
He said: “I am a married man and I came to Lagos in 2015. When I was in Edo State, I bought the police shirt. I came to Lagos and started using it to make money by extorting money from motorists.
“Anytime I am on the road, I make an average of N10,000 within two hours. I actually wanted to be a policeman, but when I failed, I started doing this. I am also a commercial bus driver.”
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest and said: “We had received a series of complaints from motorists and people living in that area that he had been extorting money from them. The Commissioner of Police’s monitoring unit was sent to the area to investigate and he was arrested in the process.
“He owned up to the crime and said he had been doing it since he came to Lagos last year. We have declared war on people denting the image of the police and we will make more arrests in the coming days.
“The command hereby appeals to members of the public to be vigilant and not part with their hard-earned money to anyone who claims to be a policeman or wears police uniform as the leadership of the Force abhors all forms of corruption.”
The suspect would be arraigned in court after conclusion of investigations, Badmos assured
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