I posed as police officer to evade transport fare – ‘Fake cop’

Lagos State Police Command has taken into custody a 33- year- old man for allegedly presenting himself falsely as a police officer. The suspect, identified as Nathaniel Benjamin,  was said to have been fully kitted with anti- robbery squad T-shirt, a camouflage  face cap,  a black bag , black trousers with black   boots to match when he was arrested at the Alakija area of Ojo, Lagos by a team of policemen on patrol  following a tip-off from members of the public . After his arrest, Benjamin  claimed to be from Kogi State but works as a driver to a private individual in Lagos. He also confessed  to being a fake policeman trying to escape paying fares to commercial bus drivers. “I love  police work but all my efforts to become a policeman has met a brick wall”, he told detectives. “I am a driver to a private individual in FESTAC Town area of Lagos. I get N30, 000 as monthly salary but this is not enough to cater for my needs. I decided to dress as a police officer so that when I  board commercial vehicles, the drivers will not collect  fare from me. I decided to impersonate  because my salary is meagre and all efforts to earn more or get a well-paying job have been futile. I was desperate to save money from free transportation”. Asked where he got the police uniform, the suspect said it was from his late brother who was a policeman. “ I was not using the police uniform to defraud anybody. I did not  also use it to escort heavy duty vehicles. I got the uniform after my elder brother, who was a policeman, died in a road crash. My brother had not spent one year in the police when he was killed in a road accident last year. After his burial, I decided to use his uniform. I have been wearing it to get free ride for three months. I love police work. I have been applying to the police  for recruitment for a long time  but I was unsuccessful.  I  also applied for the  recent  recruitment and I have been praying to God to help me get into the police. I don’t know that dressing in police uniform is an offence.   It was my love for the force that made me impersonate police and also the free ride that comes with being a police officer “.