A police inspector attached to the Railway Police Command in Ebute-Meta, Lagos, has been detained for allegedly stealing bunches of plantain.
The cop, identified only as Joseph, was said to have gone into the commissioner’s lodge and harvested plantains without any authority.
He was further said to have brought two trucks into the command to cart away with the loot, but was caught in the process.
According to Punch, the policeman tried to cover up the plantains with some iron sheets so that he could take them through the gate without being detected.
But some workers at the Railway Command, who reportedly saw him, called the attention of the authorities to it and he was arrested.
The incident was said to have happened on Tuesday at about 12pm.
After he was apprehended, a senior police officer in the command reportedly ordered his detention and his arraignment for the crime.
But another senior officer was said to have pleaded with the officer that the suspect be released as the incident could embarrass the command, which fell into deaf ears.
However, Commissioner of Police, Railway Police Command, Pius Imue, told Punch, when contacted for comments, that he was not in Lagos, adding that he could not speak on the incident.
He reportedly 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.”
