4 Cops Drugged, Rifles Stolen

Four policemen attached to Isashi Police Station in Iba Local Council Development  Area of Lagos State, South-West Nigeria, were last night drugged in a hotel and  their rifles and ammunition carted away.

The incident took place around midnight at Regional Hotel, located by El-Shadai Bus  Stop, along Iyana Isashi Road, police sources told P.M.NEWS this morning.

Hotel sources told P.M.NEWS that the four policemen; a sergeant, a corporal and two  constables, arrived Regional Hotel with one of their male friends and told the  supervisor to serve them drinks.

Sources said that the policemen brought along with them a bottle of wine and ate  chicken brought to them by their unknown friend.

After eating and drinking, the four policemen went to their patrol van and fell  asleep, it was learnt. They were rescued by other policemen who were alerted by the  manager of the hotel. The four policemen were later taken to the police station and  detained in a cell.

They slept in the cell and only woke up this morning, sources said.

“When the patrol team arrived the hotel around midnight, they went to the reception  and met with the supervisor. They told him that they came to have a drink with their  friend. They sat outside and drank red wine. They also ate chicken.

“As you can see, we don’t sell red wine or chicken here, we only sell beer in this  place,” the source said.

Another source at the hotel told our correspondents that the man who came to the  hotel with the policemen was arrested by them. He was reportedly beaten and released  later. He was then forced to buy beer for the policemen.

A police source told our correspondents that while three of the policemen were on  duty, one of them only joined them to share the beer. The source said that their  three rifles and all the ammunition were then taken from them while they were  asleep.

The source said that the four policemen may be dismissed from the police.

When P.M.NEWS visited the police station this morning, some policemen were  discussing the issue.

A police officer at the station who did not want to be quoted because he is not  allowed to talk to journalists told our correspondents that there had been many  reported cases of people being drugged in the area. “To us at the police station, it  is not a new thing. We received many complaints from people. That is why we advise  people to be security conscious. The problem we have in Nigeria is that we are not  vigilant, we are not security conscious. We must begin to suspect everything around  us because even your friend can be used to do evil,” he said.

Hotel sources told P.M.NEWS that the policemen are not new in the hotel, they come  almost every night to patrol.

Regional Hotel was built almost 15 years ago. It has 68 rooms and has many  prostitutes. One of the coordinators in the hotel told our correspondents that it  costs N500 for ‘short-time’ and N3,000 for lodging.

He said all kinds of people come around, especially in the night, to either have  drinks, get a prostitute or lodge.

—Simon Ateba & Tunmise Ige