Lagos State Police Command has demoted an Inspector to the rank of Sergeant for reportedly hiding his official rifle and lying that it was missing with a view to selling it.
The erring officer, simply identified as Inspector Musa, was attached to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit Task Force.
He allegedly hid his rifle under his mattress at home and later reported that it was missing, while pointing accusing fingers at his unnamed colleague as being responsible for the loss.
However, the lead was blown open after a search was conducted in his house and the rifle was discovered under his bed, prompting his immediate arrest and detention.
Meanwhile, his detained colleague who had earlier been accused of the loss has been released.
A police source, who craved anonymity because he was not qualified to speak to the press, said: “Inspector Musa and his colleagues were deployed to the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa Gate, and on one of the days while on duty, Musa secretly left the duty post, went home and hid the rifle only to return and accused one of his colleagues that he left his rifle in his care while he rushed out to attend to personal needs.
“A heated argument between him and his colleague ensued, and the matter was reported at the Task Force office and the accused policeman was defaulted and detained while investigation continued.
“However, a search in Musa’s apartment at the MOPOL Barracks Ikeja revealed that the rifle was actually hidden inside his mattress.
“The gun was recovered and taken to the office while Inspector Musa was placed under arrest. He was later tried in an Orderly Room trial, found culpable and demoted from Inspector to Sergeant.”
Meanwhile, the Police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, was yet to respond to text messages sent to his phone on the issue.
But a source close to his office told The Guardian that the matter was an internal misdemeanor, so, the Command was keeping it from the public.
