How Police Officers Convert Exhibits To Personal Effects

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

A man simply identified as Tunde had accident and was in the state of coma for several months and when he was discharged from the hospital, he went to a police station to clear his SUV but he was shocked about the response he got from the police authority.

Tunde discovered that a police officer had bought and was cruising around with his SUV. When he protested, he was told that the officer bought his vehicle during auction sales and the vehicle now belonged to the police officer.
It was gathered that when Tunde was rushed to a hospital and the vehicle was brought to the station, the officer in question had gone to the hospital and saw Tunde in critical condition.
The officer reportedly thought that Tunde will not make it, he then arranged and bought the vehicle he was investigating on.

Another senior police officer arrested a suspect and the suspect escaped from the cell. Thereafter, the police invaded his house and carted away all his house property and SUV.
Few months later, the SUV was said to belong to that officer courtesy of police auction.

These two incidents and many others led P.M.EXPRESS to investigate in order to find out what really happened with some of the vehicles parked as exhibits at various police stations.
It was discovered that most of the vehicles parked at the police stations end up with police officers as the owners eventually.
P.M.EXPRESS investigation revealed that it was not that the police forcefully took the vehicles but they had a subtle way of buying the vehicles back  through police registered auctioneers.

The vehicles were sold to them at giveaway prices and they end up settling the auctioneer who facilitated the suspicious deals.
For instance, a police officer told P.M.EXPRESS that new SUV which had market value of about N3m to N4m, can be bought for between N200,000 and N500,000 as the case may be.
While some low grade vehicles were sold to the officers at as low as N50,000 to N100,000 depending on the brand and quality.

Some police officers who did not want their names mentioned because of the sensitive nature of the matter gave reasons why it was so.
A senior police officer explained that when you compare the salary of police officers with that of other institutions, it was obvious theirs cannot take care of them and their family talk less buying a good vehicle. He claimed that it was such benefits that will still keep them in the police, and there was nothing wrong in buying those vehicles because they were also part of the society.

“That one is a police officer does not isolate him from benefiting from what other members of the society benefit from too”

He explained that there were procedures in buying vehicles and the law did not say a police officer will not be part or will not benefit from such guidelines.

Another senior police officer said it was one of the job benefits and added that even the civil servants buy auctions from their various ministries.
He explained that once the police high authority certified that some exhibit vehicles were due for auction, police officer were not secluded from tendering their own price despite the fact that they were the ones investigating such cases.

Some of the officers who spoke to P.M.EXPRESS said similar things to justify their action in buying exhibits at the station.
Another senior top officer explained that the police authority may not “officially” be aware of that, he however explained the procedures for auction sales of exhibits at station. He explained that the vehicles rot away when parked for a long time at the station as such there was need to dispose them and remit the money to the Federal Government account. He said there were people responsible for that and it has not come to police notice that those exhibits were converted by officers.

When P.M.EXPRESS spoke to Lagos residents concerning the matter, some of them expressed surprise and shock that such shady deals were happening within the police.
Mrs Elizabeth Nnaji said that it amounts to ridiculing the police Institution for a police officer who recovered a stolen vehicle from a robber to go behind and buy the same vehicle without contacting the owners.

She said “It is a sort of robbing Peter to lay Paul and it should be totally condemned and discouraged in the society”

Nnaji said the police have no moral justification to buy exhibits on the matter they were investigation or investigated because it looked absurd and dubious.

Another resident Tony Nwoko expressed surprise to such practice and said such action can tempt an investigating officer to frustrate investigation in order to convert the exhibits.
He advised the police authority to investigate and give directives on such absurd practice.

 P.M.EXPRESS confirmed that it was not only the police officers that do buy auctioned properties in their custody, other ministries and agencies do same at both state and federal level in Nigeria.