4 policemen accused of stealing N5m from Bureau de Change operator

A Bureau de Change operator at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Alhaji Isiaka Tahir, on Friday accused four police men of stealing his 20,000 pounds (about N5million).

Tahir in Lagos on Friday, said the incident happened on Thursday while the police men were from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

He said his employee was stopped by a team of RRS personnel at about 11.00 a.m at the access gate of the domestic wing of the airport.

Tahir, whose office is at the Hajj Camp, said he gave the employee the 20,000 pounds to deposit in his (Tahir) account at the Allen Avenue branch of AfriBank,.

“On his way to the bank, I put a call through to him that he should return back to the office for me to add additional 450 pounds.

“The boy made a U-turn at the access gate and some RRS men stopped him and demanded why he was riding a motorcycle without a number plate,’’ he said.

According to Tahir, his employee explained that the motorcycle was newly brought and it was the first time it was being taken out.

He further said: “ They refused and demanded to know the owner of the motorcycle.

“ All this happened in the presence of the airport traffic policemen at the access gate and they even intervened and told the RRS men to allow the boy to go.

“ At that point, the RRS men demanded for money from the boy.

“ While the boy was trying to give them, they forcefully took the motorcycle and the errand money from my employee and rode it toward the Oshodi axis of the airport.’’

Tahir said he went to the Hajj Camp Police Station in company with a policeman at the scene of the incident to report the case.

Tahir said the RRS personnel were sighted in the process of lodging another complaint at the Beesam Police Station inside the airport.

“We pursued and caught up with them, but unfortunately, by the time we checked the compact safe of the motorcycle, the money could no longer be found,’’ Tahir said.

Tahir recalled that police personnel had severally waylaid Bureau de Change operators and disposed them of their funds.

The Lagos State Commander of the RRS, CSP Hakeem Odumosu, expressed dismay at the incident, describing it as “ unfortunate. ’’

Odumosu, who said the RRS had no jurisdiction within the airport’s environs, promised that the matter would be investigated.

He said: “What were they doing at the airport? It’s wrong for them to operate within the environment, but they can pass through the area.

“I can’t specifically confirm this allegation now until we have carried out our investigation into the matter. ’’

Also speaking on the matter, Mrs Bisi Dawodu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police attached to Beesam Police Station, confirmed the detention of the RRS personnel.