The Edo State Police Command has arrested two suspected police officers over possession of illegal drugs worth about N20m.
The suspects, Kadiri Hassan, aged 45 and Alex Akaeze, aged 39 were arrested alongside three other suspects; Ovie Samuel (46), Stanley Itota (45), and Felix Oputi (46).
According to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, the suspects who he described as fake police officers where apprehended in possession of 1,080 kg of hard drugs by the Command’s Intelligence and Rapid Response Squad at a Guest House operated by one of the suspects, (Ovie), at No 5, Colobus Street, off Upper Mission Extension Road, Benin City the Edo State capital.
However, one of the suspects, Alex Akaeze while responding to journalist said he is a serving police officer transferred from Lagos State Command to Alogbon September and was yet to report for duty there.
He said he came to Benin and contacted two other officers who were also arrested to effect an arrest on some drug peddlers but was surprised they were apprehended alongside the drug dealers.
He said: “I am an Inspector of Police. I was enlisted in 2009, I started in Ketu, from there to SARS. I was transferred to Zamfara, but I did not go. I worked myself back to Zone 2, and from there, I was transferred to Lagos State Command, from where we were later transferred to Alagbon in September last year, but we have 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. I told them that I had 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.”