Precious Ugwuzor
Following the allegations leveled against DSP Cordelia Nwawe of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID),Alagbon, Lagos, the police said the suspects involved were being investigated for cyber crime administrative identity fraud.
The DSP was accused of extorting crypto currency from the suspects at gun point, an accusation the police have since debunked.
Nwawe, who cracked her teeth in the public relations department of the force in two states, was said to have been investigating the suspects before they counter accused her of extorting them.
The police source further revealed that the investigation begun based on the strength of the petition that was brought to the FCIID.
It was further gathered that when they were arrested, they made confessional statements on how they used other people’s photographs to swindle people of their hard earned money.
Police sources said after case files were opened for them and their confessions documented, they were granted bail and released to reasonable sureties.
” Trouble started when the suspects refused to show up on appointment days and when the police called them to honour the invitation, the suspects ran to the media to thwart Investigation.
“ They nearly succeeded as members of the public seem to believe the suspects who have swindled victims of several millions of money.
“ Many of their victims have even committed suicide, so many are indepted to banks and other financial institutions.
“I am surprised that journalists no longer carry out investigation and have refused to hear other sides of the story. She is in charge of a department and it is not possible for her to carry arms and be threatening criminals to bring money.
“She has never carried arms even for herself, except during police training, not to talk of threatening suspects. She has never signed a police gun for her use since she became a cop till date.
“She does not have any crypto currency wallet to her name, so how did she collect the N22 million through crypto currency?
“She is not an officer who is stationed to effect arrest on the road. The matter that was investigated was directed to Nwawe and her team via a petition approved by the the then AIG Dasuki Galadanchi. “
Also speaking, Mark Chidozie, an activist, who poked holes in the viral video, pondered why a PPRO can be armed, and how the accusers claim they saw the force number when she does not wear police force numbers on her shirts as police rank and file.
“ Crypto currency is not a legal tender in Nigeria so I do not know how the woman that does not have a crypto currency wallet could have held any one at gun point to forcefully collect 22 million worth of Bitcoin.
“She has investigated fraud allegations against criminals and handed over some of them to the EFCC for further investigation.”
Meanwhile, the police said investigation would continue into the matter.
