By Elohor Igbru
The Lagos state police commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu said two police officers ‘arrested’ at the Computer Village on Friday by citizens for allegedly stealing high-end mobile phones were not guilty of the crime.
The Commissioner said in a statement made available to our correspondent that the arrest and subsequent parade of the armed police officers was to ridicule them.
A video had trended on social media where two armed policemen from the police mobile unit were arrested by some traders at the computer village in Ikeja. They were accused of stealing high-end phones and were dragged to the nearby Area F police headquarters by the mob.
In the video, some of the traders could be seen rough handling the officers while there were suggestions they should be beaten to death. However, some of the citizens safely escorted the officers to the police headquarters.
“The authors of the referred viral video painted the incident mischievously and in a bad light with an attempt to ridicule the entire Nigeria Police Force,” Mr Odumosu said in the statement signed by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer.
Odumosu” “The policemen never went to buy phones, neither were they caught in any act of theft at the computer village. The HP Electronics Company’s taskforce on piracy with the police operatives were on a routine operation against piracy and sub-standard products in the market. The team was eventually chased away by the hoodlums and did not allow the operation to succeed, due to their criminal tendencies.
“The policemen are not thieves, but operatives on official and legal operation, contrary to the wrong impression painted by the originators of the fake video on social media. The State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating the theft allegation and attacks on the policemen and the team.”
Mr Odumosu said this type of false allegation and attack on police officers was the third of its kind in recent time in the same computer village.
He cautioned against every form of criminality and obstruction of legal duty vowing that the state command will not tolerate such activities.
“The general public must desist from launching attacks on the police and other security agents; and peddling fake news that will dent our national integrity and honour, which we all guard jealously,” he said.
