The police in Edo State have arrested five suspects, including two police deserters, Alex Akaeze (39) and Kadiri Hassan (45), over alleged unlawful possession of 1,080kg of ice (hard drug) valued at 20 million.
The Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, who gave the names of the three other suspects as Ovie Samuel (46), Stanley Itota (45) and Felix Oputi (46), said the suspects were arrested at a guest house operated by one of the suspects, Ovie, in Benin City.
He described two of the suspects as “fake policemen” who trailed their partners in crime from Lagos State.
He noted that, “The hard drugs are expensive and investigation revealed that the drugs are worth N20m.”
In an interview with journalists, Akaeze said he enlisted in the police in 2009 and rose to the rank of inspector.
He further said, “I started in Ketu, from there to SARS. I was transferred to Zamfara, but I did not go. I worked myself back to Zone 2, from there I was transferred to Lagos State Command, from where we were later transferred to Alagbon since September last year, but we are yet to report for duty there.
Also, Kadiri who claimed to have joined the police in 2008, confessed that he was yet to report for duty at Alagbon after he was transferred there in February this year.
Samuel, who allegedly procured the drugs, denied ever dealing in hard drugs, saying, “The people called me and said that they needed ice. So, I called my brother in Delta State to bring it for them, only for them to reveal their real identities that they are policemen.”
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