Lagos State Police Command has arrested two suspects for allegedly vandalising Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) underground cables in Ikeja, the state capital.
The suspects Taofeek Babatunde (33) and Ibrahim Sise were paraded yesterday at the command headquarters in Ikeja.
They were also accused of offering N500,000 bribe to the policemen who caught them.
Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni said the suspects were caught by anti-crime patrol team of the Ikeja Police Division.
He said:
“They were caught vandalising, cutting, stealing and loading NITEL cables into a truck on Works Road junction beside the Lagos State High Court. When the suspects were accosted, they offered to the bribe the policemen to cover up their crime. They offered N500,000 and, of course, the policemen played along with them and collected the money.
“They arrested the suspects after collecting the money, which you can see right here. On counting the money, it was discovered that it amounted to N493,500 and the policemen, in furtherance to the call of responsible and effective policing by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), turned down the gratification.
“Those policemen stood their ground, although they played along as if they were going to collect the money, which they handed over to their Divisional Police Officer (DPO). The N493,500 offered as bribe, the Volvo truck with which they were about to cart away the vandalised cables, the saw blades they used as tools for cutting those underground cables and, of course, the cables that have been loaded in to the truck, were recovered and would be used as exhibits.
Efforts are on to arrest the third suspect, Wasiu Salami, who is on the run. The two suspects we have will be arraigned before the court on Tuesday.”
Sise denied being a vandal, saying he was a scrap dealer who usually bought items in quantities from some men.
