Why I rejected N1m bribe — Policeman

Garba Saleh, an inspector with the Kano State Police Command, was at the centre of public attention recently when he rejected a N1 million bribe in the line of duty. Inspector Saleh, who has spent 21 years in the police service, is attached to the Kano State Consumer Protection Council (KCPC), an agency saddled with […]

Garba Saleh, an inspector with the Kano State Police Command, was at the centre of public attention recently when he rejected a N1 million bribe in the line of duty.

Inspector Saleh, who has spent 21 years in the police service, is attached to the Kano State Consumer Protection Council (KCPC), an agency saddled with the responsibility to check expired products, confiscate and burn them according to its law.

An indigene of Ringim Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Saleh told Kano/Jigawa Chronicle that the incident that shot him into the limelight happened while on an operation in a store at Sharada area in the state metropolis.

“We asked the owner to open the store but he refused and requested to see the top police officer leading the operation, and I told him I was the leader.

“When he opened the store, he pleaded that I should help him; he didn’t want any of his goods to be taken. I told him that we don’t take anything unless they are expired. If they are expired, definitely we will seize them and if they are not, we will close your store and leave.

“He dragged me aside and offered N1 million for me to leave without taking his goods, but I rejected the money. He then insisted and called his son to bring the money,” he said.

Saleh further said before the son brought the money, he alerted members of his team to get ready as the businessman wanted to bribe him and they should serve as his witness.

“He brought the money to me and we arrested him and brought him to the council. We also did the operation and found expired products of over N1 billion in the store. We seized the goods and handed them over to the consumer protection council.’’

When asked on why he rejected the money despite allegations that police are among the most corrupt public service officers in the country, the 45-year-old officer said not all of them are the same and that so many reasons prevented him from taking the bribe.

“First of all my religion prohibits that and in the training we had as police, we were asked not to take bribes. So why should I do it? Also, my father is an elderly man and he has always warned us against anything bad,” he said.

Saleh said he was very happy when he was recognised for doing the right thing and got rewarded by the KCPC with N1 million along with his colleague, adding that he had never gotten that amount in his life.

He added that members of his family too, especially his wife, were very happy and proud of him and that he bought a plot of land with some part of the money.

Kano/Jigawa Chronicle gathered that after the initial reward from the agency, the Police Community Relations Committee in Diaspora through its Lagos office also rewarded Saleh and his KCPC partner with an additional N1 million.