Thank God We Were Arrested, Say Police Impersonators

One of the suspects that held policemen spell bound on Tuesday at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters was Nathaniel Benjamin, 33. Benjamin is a former driver with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB). He was arrested for impersonation.

He used to wear his late brother’s uniform, to board commercial buses, so that he wouldn’t pay fare. He insisted that he didn’t know that it was a crime for him to be parading himself around Lagos in his brother’s police uniform. However, he was not the only person arrested for wearing police uniform for disreputable purposes. Standing quietly beside Benjamin was Abdulrasak Sammar, 33.

He was a dismissed police constable, impersonating an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). But it was Benjamin who caught everyone’s attention as he screamed and fumed for being arrested, “just because I wore my late brother’s police uniform.”

He was angry; he felt that policemen should be chasing criminals who operated with guns, rather than people like him, “who are only trying to feed myself, my wife and my three kids.” He threatened that any policeman who killed him, would be judged by God. Aside from the crime of impersonation which both suspects had in common, another thing was their happiness in being finally arrested. Benjamin saw his arrest as opportunity for people to know about his economic situation and help him with a Job.

His words: “I thank God that I was arrested. Maybe God allowed police to arrest me, so that someone can assist me with a job.” But Sammar, always calm, said quietly: “I feel bad that I was arrested, but I thank God that I was arrested. Without mistakes, there wouldn’t be correction.” The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said that cases of uniform impersonation were becoming alarming and worrisome.

He said he and other sister security agencies were working together to check the trend. Owoseni said: “Let’s be wary of men who wear T-shirts that has signs like gallant Mopols. Many of them are not police men or soldiers. Our Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad Teams have uniforms designed by the Inspector-General-of- Police. If you see such fake uniform men carrying weapons, please report them.

Even if you see them carrying Walkie- Talkie, don’t be deceived. The Walkie-Talkie is probably dead. They use such gadget to deceive members of the public. We’re sharing intelligence with our military counterparts’ on people impersonating uniform men.” Reacting to the arrest of Benjamin and Sammar, Owoseni said: “Sammar was arrested for being in possession of forged items and documents supposedly that of the Office of the Deputy- Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Abuja.

We recovered fake Police Identity Card, which he was using to parade himself as ASP. Benjamin was arrested in Festac Town, parading himself as a policeman. He was wearing police trouser, T-shirt with in  scription of, ‘Galant Mopol.’ Camouflage police cap and bag were also recovered from him.” Sammar said that he was arrested at the filling station of Capital Oil and Gas, after he escorted a truck from Port Harcourt to Lagos. He said the policemen who arrested him, did so based on information about his criminal activities. He said: “I was dismissed because I was involved in illegal duty.