Commotion In FCT Police Command Over Walkie-talkie Forgotten By Extortionist Officer
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
A recent video alleging that a police officer inadvertently left his walkie talkie in a motorist’s car after extorting the vehicle owner is causing brouhaha in the police in the Federal Capital Territory Police Command.
SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Command’s spokesperson on Tuesday said in a statement that the walkie talkie in question may be part of the third batch of three (3) walkie talkies that went missing last year in Gwagwalada Division.
TheFact Daily reports that the viral video represents excerpts from the popular Berekete Family programme aired on Human Rights radio, and anchored by Nigerian activist and radio personality, Ahmed Isah. In the video, Isah narrated how a police officer stopped a motorist and forced him to part with a thousand naira because one of his tires was not good. The motorist, not wanting to be delayed parted with the sum which he had to borrow. The police officer is said to have collected the money and mistakenly forgotten the device, estimated to cost several hundreds of thousands of naira.
Responding to the video, Adeh said that while the Command takes such allegations seriously, it emphasizes the importance of verifying facts before making public accusations.
“The anchor of the programme that broadcasted this information should have deemed it fit to contact police authorities directly for clarification or to report the matter, rather than disseminating unverified claims especially as there was no corroboration of such”, she said, maintaining that, “the walkie talkie in question may be part of a batch of three (3) walkie talkies that went missing last year in Gwagwalada Division, and reported via police wireless message no AJ:1160/GWG/FCT/ABJ/VOL.1/03 dated 16th February, 2023”.
She further averred that the Comand’s communications department has confirmed that all walkie talkies currently in use within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are accounted for, with no recent reports of any missing devices.
“In light of this, the Police Command urges the programme anchor and the motorist involved to kindly come forward with any relevant information and the walkie talkie in question as the individual’s cooperation would be crucial in assisting the police with uncovering the facts of this matter and ensuring a thorough investigation”, she stated a d added that, “the FCT Police Command remains committed to accountability and transparency in its operations and urges all residents to work with us in promoting justice and truth.”
