Police Inspector detained for allegedly stealing plantain

A police inspector attached to the Railway Police Command, Ebute-Meta, identified only as Joseph, has been detained for allegedly stealing bunches of plantain. PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect was arrested on Tuesday while trying to hide the plantain in two trucks.

It was learnt that a senior police officer in the command ordered his detention and his arraignment for the crime. A source at the command, however, said another senior officer pleaded with the officer that the suspect be released as the incident could embarrass the command.

He said, “The inspector is attached to the Railway Police Command. On Tuesday around 12pm, he went to the commissioner’s lodge and harvested plantains without any authority. As if that was not bad enough, he brought two trucks into the command to take the plantain away. He wanted to cover up the plantains with some iron sheets so that he could take them through the gate without being detected.

“He was on this when some workers at the Railway Command called the attention of the authorities to it and he was arrested.” Another source told PUNCH Metro that the superior officer of the suspect pleaded for his release. He said, “The matter is still on. The senior officer who pleaded that he should not be prosecuted explained that the action could dent the image of the command.”

The Commissioner of Police, Railway Police Command, Pius Imue, however, said he was not in Lagos, adding that he could not comment on the incident.

He said, “I have been in Abuja since last weekend for the inauguration of the Abuja-Kaduna railway line, so I haven’t been on the ground to know about the incident. And if this happened in the command, officers who were on the ground would have attended to it.”