Sergeant Shola Akano and Corporal Babatunde Glorious are two former policemen making efforts to get justice after they claimed unjust dismissal from the Police Force…..CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING
The officers attached to the Kwara State Command were dismissed by the then Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, now the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun for their involvement in fraud, among other allegations.
The duo was accused of being unprofessional while investigating a case involving a student of the Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State, in 2020.
On Tuesday, the police said in a statement, “In the cause of investigating the case, the duo arrested two suspects – one Fatai Ridwan Olarewaju and one Awogbemi Samuel Olayinka, a student of the Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State.
“On 7th February 2020, the officers booked and took one of the suspects, Fatai Ridwan Olarewaju, from the police cell where he was detained to a Zenith Bank branch at Unity Road, Ilorin where they coerced the suspect into withdrawing the sum of N1,190,000 from his account which was collected by Corporal Glorious”.
The statement signed by its spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, followed rising complaints by the erstwhile officers that their dismissal was wrong following their refusal to receive a bribe to compromise a matter they were investigating.
In December 2021, the ex-cops working at the Public Complaints Bureau of the Kwara Police Command were assigned to investigate a case of car theft after an armed robbery victim, Abdulrazaq Omowunmi, reported a case of a stolen vehicle with a Lagos number plate.
Reports revealed that the policemen had tracked the vehicle to Nasarawa, where they successfully arrested the suspects; recovered the vehicle, and allegedly uncover the existence of a car theft syndicate.
“The suspects we arrested mostly targeted vehicles with Lagos number plates just like the number plate on Omowunmi’s car.
“After stealing his car, they took it to Nasarawa State. Through the investigation, we discovered that the vehicle licensing authority in Nigeria uses the same database to license vehicles in Nasarawa and Lagos states.
“So, vehicles with Lagos number plates, after being stolen, were taken to Keffi, Nasarawa, where compromised vehicle inspection officers at the licensing office will use the database to access the profile of the stolen Lagos registered vehicles and change it to an innocent victim’s profile or replace it with untraceable names and addresses,” Punch had quoted one of the dismissed officers in a report.
The officers told the medium that they had made progress on the case, and had identified the head of the car theft syndicate, one Akande who at the time was residing in Kwara, but “we were facing intense pressure from our superiors who offered us N8m to drop the case but we rejected it”.
Eventually, they were taken off the case and assigned the case of the polytechnic student, where they were allegedly accused of fraud and subsequently dismissed.
Despite the year-long efforts by the former policemen to get justice and the case file reassessed, the police on Tuesday upheld the outcome of the previous investigation insisting that their (ex-cops) engagement in misconduct warranted their dismissal.
“The NPF, therefore, wishes to clarify the circumstances surrounding their dismissal and reaffirm the integrity of the disciplinary process after being subjected to reassessment,” the statement said.
More findings from their reassessment noted that the former officers after allegedly withdrawing the sum of over N1 million from the suspect’s account, continued to demand more money from the suspect to close the case, thus engaging in further acts of extortion.
“These actions were in direct violation of their duties and code of conduct as police officers, and it prompted Mr. Fatai to report the matter to the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the IGP X-Squad for investigation.
“Subsequently, verifiable evidence, including the conversion of one of the mobile phones, an iPhone 11 Pro, for personal use by Corporal Glorious, was presented during their trial.
“Based on a thorough examination of the evidence and the testimonies of all parties involved, the duo was found guilty and dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force.
“It is essential to note that the same complaint of wrongful dismissal was made by the officers before the #EndSARS panel in Ilorin, and their dismissal was upheld after a careful review of the evidence and testimonies from all concerned parties.
“Series of reviews and recommendations from panels uphold the dismissal and prosecution of the duo, and they will be so prosecuted accordingly.
“The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to ensuring discipline, accountability, and professionalism within its ranks, and condemn any form of misconduct while assuring the public that necessary actions will always be taken to maintain the trust reposed in the police.
“The dismissal of Sgt. Shola Akano and Corporal Babatunde Glorious underscore our commitment to weeding out bad elements from the Force and upholding the values of justice and fairness,” the statement read…..CONTINUE READING
