Ajiwe Policemen in Ajah Pictured Drinking Alcohol On Duty

Policemen attached to Ajiwe Police Division, Ajah, Lagos State have been accused of always being under the influence of alcohol while on duty and on patrol.

Ajiwe Policemen in Ajah Pictured Drinking Alcohol On Duty

Following the recent murder of a pregnant lawyer named Bolanle Raheem by station-affiliated Assistant Superintendent of Police Drambi Vandi, the police station gained notoriety online.

An inspector, Imeh Johnson, attached to the same division, had also shot dead another resident, Gafaru Buraimoh, who was on his way to buy fuel.

According to Punch, some of them were spotted consuming alcohol in sachets while heavily armed upon closer observation. The publication reported that one of the officers who sat close to a barbing salon attached to a building beside the station, was seen with a glass cup of beer, which he allegedly sipped at intervals.

It added that policeman among another set of officers who took cover under a shed adjacent to the station was allegedly seen drinking a canned alcohol drink with a pistol strapped to his waist.

It was also reported that while some vendors found around the police station allegedly made some of the alcoholic drinks available within the officer’s reach, other officers stayed away from prying eyes by walking a distance to patronise other traders.

After a close observation for over an hour, a Punch correspondent reported that a fair-looking officer beckoned him to come. Close contact with him showed that he was drunk, as his body reeked of alcohol.

He reportedly sounded incoherent and requested a sum of N200 from the journalist. After being given the money, he took it to a vendor, bought a sachet of alcoholic drink and gulped it on the spot.

It was also gathered that the policemen allegedly paid regular visits to some alcoholic vendors behind a motor park under the Ajah Bridge, where Raheem was shot dead.

A resident, Soliu Adekanmbi, told the publication that some of the police officers are known for their open abuse of alcohol.

He said,

“The officers do things the way they like and nobody is checking them. It looks like nobody can confront them. Most of them are always with alcoholic packs while on duty. They drink them here under the bridge while in uniform. It is what everybody knows, but no one can say anything since the police authorities have done nothing about it.”

It was further learnt that most of the policemen had spent a long time in the area and had refused to be transferred.

A community development association chairman told the publication that this has contributed to their excesses in the community.

genuine commitment to implement reforms that address these problems, as well as competent leadership both at the level of the police and at the political level.”

Also reacting to this, Lagos police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin noted that it is an offence to drink on duty.

He said,

“If a police officer is drunk while on duty, it is a disciplinary offence and there are laid down procedures dealing with such a person. It is the duty of the DPO or any officer that discovers the same to bring him for disciplinary action.”