CRIME Fake cop arrested after collecting N.1m as bail fee

Police in Kano State have arrested one Mohammed Yakasai for allegedly parading himself as a policeman and or court official defrauding family members of arrested suspects in the state.

A statement from the police command, signed by its Public Relation Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, said Yakasai was arrested following a complaint by the Police Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PPCRRU) on the 27th July, 2017.

“A female resident of Kano city called the PCRRU’s hot line and complained that on the 17th of July, 2017 a team of police on patrol raided Kwana Hudu area in Kano metropolis and arrested her son for alleged robbery. And that her son was taken to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office and subsequently charged to court for robbery.

“She stated that her son was remanded in prison custody till the adjourned date. However, one of the Investigating Police Officers (IPO) known as Yakasai whom she met at the court premises collected N100,000 from her as bail fee,” the statement said.

The woman further told the police that Yakasai had also promised to facilitate the release of her son, but her son was still taken to Kurmawa prison.

The statement quoted the woman as saying, “I picked the PCRRU contact phone number from a leaflet dropped by police helicopter in Kano on the 27th July, 2017 and lodged my complaint to the police.”

After Yakasai was arrested, police discovered that he was neither a policeman nor a court official, but an impostor who had been going round to courts in the state metropolis pretending to be either a policeman or a court official.

The statement added that Yakasai had confessed to the crime and the N100,000 recovered from him had been handed back to the complainant, while he was charged to court for prosecution.

The statement added that police investigation revealed that the arrest of the complainant’s son and subsequent prosecution in court is pursuant to an investigation into a reported case.

The police, therefore, advised members of the public not to pay money to police as bail fee.