There was a drama at the Mechanic Village, Tombia, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, after suspected conmen withstood arrest and harassed and “detained” two policemen who came to arrest them.
The policemen, who came with a complainant, Fredrick Ojukwu and a witness, Ebi Ozegbe, escaped death as the suspects reportedly organised a mob to lynch them.
Eyewitnesses said it took the reinforcement of a police team led by the Divisional Police Officer of Akenfa to rescue the victims.
It was gathered that before the intervention of the DPO, the crowd of over 50 people seized Ozegbe’s phone.
They were said to have torn the officers’ uniforms.
The reinforcement team freed the victims and arrested eight suspects.
The “conmen” were said to have defrauded Ojukwu of N140,000 under the pretence of purchasing a car for him.
Ojukwu reportedly gave the suspects the money as a deposit for a second-hand vehicle.
He promised to pay the balance after inspecting the car.
But he rejected the car shown to him by the main suspect, identified as Obum, and demanded a refund of his deposit.
The suspects, it was learnt, agreed to refund the money but later went at large for many months.
They ran out of luck when the complainant learnt that they have been seen at the Mechanic Village.
Ojukwu lodged a complaint at the police station and was accompained to the Mechanic Village by policemen.
On sighting them, the suspects grabbed the four of them and beat them.
It was learnt that the presence of the police spokesman, Alex Akhigbe, who had gone there to fix his car, did not deter the mob.
Akhigbe confirmed the incident and said it was unbelievable that some people can prevent policemen from carrying out their constitutional duties.
He said: “I was at the Mechanic Village to fix my car when I saw a large crowd.
“I was attracted to the scene but the mechanics said they do not allow policemen to arrest their members.
“I urged the leadership of the park to bring some people to accompany the suspects to the station”, they refused.
“The DPO himself led a team to the park and was able to arrest the situation.
“The police team rescued our men and arrested eight persons, including Obum.”
