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Mariam Olopade
The Ogun state police command has refuted the media report (Not PLATFORM TIMES ) that its vehicle was seized by men of Nigeria Customs Service after it was used to smuggle contraband into Ogun state .
The police command said the hilux patrol van impounded is not a police vehicle .
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state ,DSP, Abimbola Oyeyemi said this while reacting to the report in a statement issued on Tuesday .
While explaining , Oyeyemi faulted the claim that the vehicle which was used to carry 27 bags of foreign parboiled rice had police number plate, saying , the Nigeria Police Force does not have such a number plate .
He said “the attention of Ogun state police command has been drawn to a news item with the above caption circulating on social media and other media outfit.
” The news has to do with the press briefing done by the Nigeria Custom Ogun 1 area command on the 22nd of March 2022,while parading some impounded contraband at the command’s headquarters in Abeokuta.
“During the said press briefing, a vehicle purportedly belonging to Nigeria Police Force, used for smuggling of 27 bags of rice and abandoned by the driver when accosted by Custom officers was paraded by the comptroller.
“The command wouldn’t have like to join issues with a sister agency, but in order to set the record straight, there is need to make the following clarifications.
“To start with, the number plate on the vehicle which is PF 10889 SPY is not a police number plate, as no police vehicle will be numbered in such manner.
“The Nigeria Custom Services which has unfettered access to the top echelon of the Police command would have contacted the command for details information about the vehicle before labelling it as Police vehicle in their press briefing, moreso that nobody was arrested with the said vehicle to give credence to their claim.
“The command hereby wishes to inform members of the public that the said vehicle is not a Police vehicle and the number plate on it is fake and the police has nothing to do with it.”
