Two fake police inspectors who were detained in relation to illegal narcotics worth N20 million in the state have been paraded by the Edo State Police Command.
The Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, who disclosed this to newsmen in Benin City, said they were among the five-man criminal gang specialized in dealing in illicit drugs.
He gave the names of the two fake police officers as Alex Akaeze, 39, and Kadiri Hassan, 45.
He also listed other members of the gang to include Ovie Samuel, 46; Stanley Itota, 45; and Felix Oputi, 46.
Adegboye explained that the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Command’s Intelligence and Rapid Response Squad at a guest house operated by Samuel at No 5, Colobus Street, off Upper Mission Extension Road, Benin City.
He added that the illicit drug called ‘ice’ weighed 1,080 kilograms with a street value of N20 million.
He said the investigation is ongoing, and that the suspects would soon be charged to court.
In an interview with newsmen, Akaeze, one of the suspects, said he was enlisted into the Police Force in 2009.
Akaeze, who insisted he is a Police Inspector added that he was transferred to Zamfara State from AIG Zone 2, Lagos State.
According to him, “I am an Inspector of Police. I was enlisted in 2009, I started in Ketu, and from there to SARS. I was transferred to Zamfara, but I did not go.
“I worked myself back to Zone 2, from there I was transferred to Lagos State Command, from where we were later transferred to Alagbon since September last year, but we were yet to report for duty there.
“These two officers [Command operatives], are our colleagues, we worked together in IRT, I have their phone numbers and I called them before I came down from Lagos and I told them that I have an urgent arrest to make and wanted them to follow us and they agreed.
“Although I told them that I still serve at Alagbon, I didn’t tell them the truth that we have not reported for duty there. We were with them in their office yesterday and they led us to make the arrest.
“We were however surprised that they suddenly changed it for us and arrested us with the drug dealers”, he added.
On his part, Kadiri Hassan, who also insisted he is a Police Inspector, added that he joined the Police Force in 2008.
He also disclosed that he was yet to report to duty at Alagbon when he was transferred in February this year.
Ovie Samuel, who procured the hard drug, denied knowledge of the trade.
“The people called me and said that they needed ice and I called my brother in Delta State to bring it for them, only for them to reveal their real identities that they are policemen,” he stated.