One of the three officers, Musa Musa, who was dismissed from
the force for burgling the house of the Former President, Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan, has been arraigned by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command,
Abuja.
The dismissed officer who was a sergeant was among the three
who burgled Jonathan’s house at No. 89 Fourth Avenue, Gwarimpa district, Abuja
and stole items such as, sets of furniture, plasma television sets,
refrigerators, air-conditioner units and box-loads of clothes such as designer
suits imprinted with the former president’s name, male and female Ijaw traditional
attires, lace materials and bowler hats.
They were arraigned at a magistrate court in Wuse, Abuja.
The magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello, after hearing arguments by respective
counsels, granted Musa bail with a bond of N7 million. “The law is clear about
right to liberty. Bail is granted to allow the accused attend trial. Where it
is perceived that the accused may jump bail, he may be denied,” the magistrate said.
The three mobile police officers allegedly had conducted the
systematic looting over a period of three months beginning from around March
2016, until they totally stripped the house of all movable items, which they
sold piecemeal to dealers at Panteka second-hand materials market at Tipper
Garage, Gwarimpa.
According to a security source involved in the
investigation, by the time family members of the former President were alerted
to the looting early this month, the house had been stripped bare. On getting
wind of the arrest of the policemen, two dealers who had been main recipients
of the stolen items were said to have closed down their shops at Panteka market
and have since remained at large. Whistle-blowing neighbour.
The source revealed that the looting was discovered when a
neighbour noticed “severe damage in the house” and called a member of
President Jonathan’s family to ask whether the house was undergoing renovation.
The former President was said to have personally gone to inspect the property after
which he reported the vandalism to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris.
“After a team of officers dispatched to the scene confirmed
the crime, Mr. Idris was said to have ordered the arrest of the three police
officers who were still on guard duty at the residence. They were arrested
about two weeks ago,” the source stated.
A trader at Panteka market, who confessed to being close to
one of the fleeing buyers of the stolen items, according to sources, said the
police officers first brought some items to the market for sale in early 2016.
Sgt Musa at Panteka Market “It all started sometimes around March 2016 when a
mobile police sergeant came to Tipper Garage market and brought some items for
sale. He approached one of the wholesalers to buy them, but the trader said he
does not buy items from an unconfirmed owner.
“The officer who identified himself as Sergeant Musa told
the trader that he was one of the security men guarding Mr. Jonathan’s private
residence at Gwarimpa. He took the trader to follow him to confirm that he was
not a thief who had come to sell off stolen properties in the market. ‘’The
trader followed him to the residence where he met two other policemen, an
Inspector and a Sergeant. They convinced him that the items were part of gifts
to them,’’ the source said.
Sources said it was noticed subsequently that the stream of
transaction had no end, as Sergeant Musa continued to invite the trader to the
residence to pick up fresh items.
The source said: “At a point, the trader became scared when
he suspected foul play and told Sergeant Musa that he was no longer interested
in the transaction. However, the officer later got another customer, a
wholesaler in the market, who would eventually buy almost 80 per cent of all
the properties removed from President Jonathan’s residence.
Jonathan had lived in the house for about a year when he was
vice president. His mother was also said to have lived in the house after the
former President moved to Aso Rock Villa upon becoming Acting President in
2010.
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