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Policeman Nabbed In Alleged Robbery |
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Article posté par Arise1Always vu 341 fois.
[ Buea - Cameroun ] ( 31/08/2005) Walter Wilson Nana
A police constable, Essomba Bahanack, 23, recently posted to the Police Post in Muea, a village in Buea, was caught in the wee hours of Wednesday, August 24, after he scaled the perimeter fence of a students' hostel, in Molyko, Buea. Elvis Moku Modong, 27, a security guard of Nelson Security, Molyko, Buea, who was on night duty at Bannam Hostel a few hundred metres from the Mile 17 Motor Park, nabbed Essomba.
A police constable, Essomba Bahanack, 23, recently posted to the Police Post in Muea, a village in Buea, was caught in the wee hours of Wednesday, August 24, after he scaled the perimeter fence of a students' hostel, in Molyko, Buea. Elvis Moku Modong, 27, a security guard of Nelson Security, Molyko, Buea, who was on night duty at Bannam Hostel a few hundred metres from the Mile 17 Motor Park, nabbed Essomba.
Moku Modong told The Post: "It happened around 3:30 a.m. We heard the noise of the pieces of broken bottles stuck along the top of the fence being broken. So, my colleague and I took our strategic positions. When the man jumped in, we swooped on him. We held him, and on discovering that he had on the police uniform we asked him to identify himself. He said he had nothing to show. Then we told him we would call the appeal court judge who owns the compound. We called him at 4:00 am and he came at 7:00 am."
Moku said the manner in which the man scaled the fence and did not "pass through our gate" convinced them he was out on a sinister mission. He dismissed earlier confessions the policeman made to this reporter that he knocked the gate and requested for it to be open.
"He did not knock our gate. We only saw him when he jumped over our fence and got into the compound. We rushed towards him and asked what he had with him. He said he had a gun, which we seized," he said. Moku said the gun had no cartridges. "We asked him his note of permission from his office, which allows him to carry a gun and cartridges. He said he had nothing. We told him our landlord would know what to do when he came."
Moku also said that when Essomba jumped into the Bannam Hostel compound, he immediately attempted to remove his gun. "That is when I knew that he had a gun. He even attempted to frighten us, but we surprised him. He would have done anything with the gun, so, I seized it from him."
On his part, Essomba, who said he is a police officer in the Cameroonian Police Corps and 17 months old in Buea, denied any bad intentions.
"I did not come to steal, I was out to do my job. I came in to find out if there was somebody in the compound. The security guards asked who it was. I replied it was the police. I am doing my night checks," he said.
Asked why he chose to scale over a security fence with pieces of broken bottles at the top, Essomba replied, "I got to the gate, knocked and requested that it should be open. Nobody came. The place was calm. That is why I scaled the fence and one of the guards came towards me."
On whether the guards called for security reinforcement or any other form of assistance, Essomba said, "No."
"And why did you jump into somebody's home?" Essomba was asked. He said, "The Delegate of National Security has asked us to reinforce our night checks and patrols. It is the security guard that asked me to come in. And I did. I asked the guards to open the gate. They refused and asked me to jump in."
Essomba said that his gun had no cartridges. "We have been cautioned not to shoot as we had been doing. The gun I have was left behind by my guadian who died recently, so I go along to work with it," he said.
Justice Martin Mbeng, Court of Appeal Judge, Buea, who owns the hostel, narrated how he got the news of the said police officer who jumped over the fence of his compound."
"One of the tenants, a student of the University of Buea, called me at 4:00 am. He told me they had arrested somebody who jumped over the fence, that he had a gun and he was a police officer.
I did not come immediately. Later on, I was called by a neighbour, who asked me to go to the scene. I went and saw that the arrested person had on a police uniform without any identification papers", Justice Mbeng said. He added that the arrested man made known to him that he was from the Muea Police Post and his names were Essomba Bahanack.
"I called the officer in charge of the Police Post, Muea and he confirmed that he had an element of that name," Mbeng said. He said no missing items had been reported at the time Essomba was apprehended.
"It appears nothing has been taken away. Immediately he jumped into the compound he was arrested," Mbeng said. He also remarked on the gun found with Essomba; "The gun does not look real. It is not a professional gun."
As a member of the legal profession, Justice Mbeng expressed disappointed with the kind of image cut by the likes of the Essombas of the Cameroonian police corps."It is a shame, a big shame to the cops and to the whole country! Police officers are supposed to cater for our security. If police officers rather get into things like this, then it is a shame to the country," Mbeng said.
A police source confirmed to The Post by phone that Essomba Bahanack is a police constable attached to the Muea Police Post.
Police Corp Embarrassed
The Post gathered that the Delegate General for National Security, Alain Edgar Mebe Ngo'o, was immediately informed of the incident. He reportedly expressed shock and disbelief at what had happened.
On Monday, August 22, the Southwest Provincial Delegate for National Security, Patrick Ebollo, held a meeting with his collaborators at the Conference hall of the Post and Telecommunication Institute in Buea. During the meeting, Ebollo reportedly handed out written instructions from the Delegate General on how the Cameroonian police are supposed to carry out their activities.
A police officer, who preferred not to be named, told The Post that Essomba has been detained in the Buea Public Security cell pending investigation. He said Essomba abandoned his duty that fateful night and went drinking with his colleagues who were off duty.
On the sanctions likely to be meted out on Essomba, he said his salary could be withheld, his advancement, too, can be suspended. He might also face punitive transfer.
The police officer said he found it hard to establish the nexus between Essomba's attitude and his recent action. He, however, said the police constable is usually very calm but stubborn. He said Essomba looks abnormal when they interrogated him.
© 2005 The Post
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