PIRATE kombi drivers and touts on Monday effected a citizens’ arrest on a woman who was allegedly impersonating a police officer and extorting money from them.
Vinate Ncube (35) was arrested after she allegedly got
US$10 from Mr Jones Ndlovu, who was picking up passengers at 6th Avenue in
Bulawayo.
Mr Ndlovu said he had no choice but to give Ncube US$10
after she threatened to not only arrest him but to impound his vehicle.
“I had to pay her because she was so convincing. She told
me that she was a plain clothes officer deployed to nab pirate kombis in town.
After I paid her, I drove away with the passengers, but
after a while I received a call from another kombi crew that told me that they
had arrested her after they found out from Honda Fit drivers that the woman was
a fake cop.
“We then called the police and they took her to Drill Hall
Police Station. As we speak, she is there. We are tired of these bogus cops who
come here every day demanding money. We have now learnt that Drill Hall does
not have plainclothes police officers. We are just trying to make a living,
this must stop,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Ncube vehemently dismissed the allegations that she was
impersonating a police officer and had demanded a bribe.
“I am a sex worker and the driver is my client. He gave me
US$10 and told me to wait for him at 6th Avenue as he was going on a trip. I am
a very famous sex worker so he knew that I was not going to run away from him.
“I was surprised when other drivers and touts pounced on
me, claiming that I had extorted money from them. It is a lie, how can I pretend
to be a policewoman,” she said.
Mr Ndlovu laughed off Ncube’s claim that he was her client.
“I have a wife at home, I don’t need this woman’s services. Besides, who pays
for sex and drives away? I am not that stupid,” said Ndlovu.
Police arrested more than 105 bogus police officers in the
first eight months of 2020 for terrorising unsuspecting members of the public
around the country.
The fraudsters committed various offences in the name of
the uniformed forces with some of them wearing police regalia before going
around suburbs in vehicles without number plates extorting and robbing people
of their valuables.
In some instances, the bogus officers would man fake
roadblocks where they would shake down motorists. Of the more than 105 cases,
101 arrests have been made with some of the culprits serving jail terms.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico
Ncube confirmed the arrest. Chronicle
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