AKANMU Kabiru, a police officer with the Oyo State police command, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for collecting bribes from an armed robbery suspect.

Rasheedat Okoduwa, spokesperson for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), made this known in a statement, saying that the judgement was given by Justice A. I. Akintola of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan.

Okoduwa stated that Kabiru was first arraigned before the court in May 2007, alongside two other police officers – Tajudeen Olalere and Omotosho Lawrence. They were later released on bail, but Olalere and Lawrence jumped bail, leaving only Kabiru to face trial.

The trio had already been dismissed by the Nigeria Police Force before their arraignment in court.

The ICPC accused them of asking and receiving gratification from a suspect in the course of investigating a robbery case.

Badmus Akojode, the robbery suspect in question, was said to have paid N200, 000 bribe to the officers in order to be exonerated from an armed robbery case they were investigating.

The offence contravened Sections 8 (1) (a), and 26 (1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under Section 8 (1)(b) of the same act.

The accused who had earlier pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them were nonetheless found culpable by the court, therefore prompting the judge to sentence one of them to prison while those that had jumped bail would be made to face the music once apprehended.