The Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit has arrested two men, Monday Job and Rasak Oloyede, for allegedly parading themselves as security agents.
Job, who was alleged to have impersonated a police officer, was said to have used his motorcycle to operate on restricted routes, while Oloyede, who impersonated an army officer, was alleged to have used his commercial bus to commit fraudulent acts on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The Chairman of the agency, Olayinka Egbeyemi, noted that the suspects committed the acts to avoid arrest by security agencies on patrol.
He said, “Our intelligence reports revealed that some dubious-minded motorcyclists are now using fake Nigerian Army/police uniforms to scout for passengers on restricted routes as well as indulging in various forms of fraudulent acts across the state.
“The directive of the state government stipulates that all security personnel on official assignments with motorcycles must be fully kitted in uniforms with their identity cards conspicuously displayed, which the suspects failed to do.”
Egbeyemi added that motorcycle operators must desist from plying all the 475 restricted routes and must wear crash helmets and possess riders’ permits for proper identification of the park they belonged to while plying other routes.
He, however, urged residents of the state to be vigilant and desist from patronising motorcyclists and commercial bus drivers wearing fake security uniforms, adding that the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had directed that the suspects be charged.
Job, in his statement to the police, allegedly noted that he bought the uniform for N7,000 from a policeman who was deployed from Lagos to the northern part of the country.
He allegedly stated that he had been using the uniform to carry out illegal arrests and extorting money from both motorists and motorcyclists plying restricted routes on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
He said, “I was hawking before I joined the okada business over a year ago and I have been wearing this police uniform to arrest and defraud okada riders and making at least N30,000 to N35,000 daily.”
Oloyede, in his statement, allegedly said he used the army uniform to evade checkpoints and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.