A dismissed police officer, Yusuf Anas, has been arrested for alleged impersonation and stealing by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Zone 17, Akure in Ondo State.
Anas was arrested after he purchased a mobile phone from a store and allegedly generated a fake bank transfer to the seller.
The suspect was said to have enlisted into the Force as a Constable in 2016 and served in Sokoto and Lagos states before he was declared a deserter and subsequently dismissed.
Akeem Adeoye, the spokesperson for the NPF, Zone 17 Command, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Adeoye said the suspect had been parading himself as a uniform officer despite being dismissed from the Force, adding that he was arrested following a petition to the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police in the zone.
“On the 8th of May 2023, the suspect who was still parading himself as an officer, dressed in uniform went to purchase a Techno-Spark10 handset valued at one hundred and two thousand naira (N102,000) at a phone shop. After collecting the said phone, he generated a fake bank transfer to the seller.
“The crime was later reported via a petition to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 17 and the suspect was subsequently arrested through viable intelligence gathering,” he said.
The PPRO noted that the suspect, in the course of interrogation, allegedly confessed to having committed the crime, stressing that he would be prosecuted accordingly.