A fake policeman, who also impersonated as a court official, Yakasai Mohammed, has been arrested by the Kano State Police Command after collecting N100,000 from the mother of a suspect on the pretence of securing bail for the suspect.
According to a press release made available by the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), and signed by Abayomi Shogunle, an Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, the suspect was in the habit of impersonating both the police and court officials in order to defraud family members of arrested suspects.
“The illegal activities of the suspect were brought to an end after a complaint was made to the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) on July 27, via a phone call from a female resident of Kano following the Wednesday, July 26, helicopter leaflet drop of PCRRU flyers in English, Hausa and Kanuri, over the city,” the statement read.
The complainant, on July 27, at about 6:34p.m., called the PCRRU on telephone and complained that on July 17, a team of policemen on patrol raided a place called Kwana Hudu area in Kano, and arrested her son for an alleged robbery case.
She said her son was taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office in Kano, from where he was subsequently charged to court for alleged robbery.
The woman then said the trial judge ordered that her son be remanded in prison pending the next court date, while alleging that one of the Investigating Police Officers (IPO) who she met at the court premises, collected N100,000 from her for her son’s bail.
She was, however, shocked when her son was moved to Kurmawa prison from the court, and she decided to report the incident to the PCRRU.
On receipt of the complaint, the PCRRU transfered the case to the Commissioner of Police in Kano State for investigation.
The investigation by the police in the state revealed that the arrest of the complainant’s son and subsequent prosecution was pursuant to an investigation into a reported case.
However, upon arrest of Yakassai, it was discovered that he was not a policeman or court official, but only went to court, while pretending to be a policeman and a court worker.
“Yakasai confessed to the crime and the extorted N100,000 was recovered from him and handed back to the complainant.
“He has, therefore, been charged to court for prosecution accordingly, while he has been remanded in prison pending the next hearing date,” the statement said, while advising members of the public not to pay any money for bail.
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