[News] Fire service official dismissed after being caught on CCTV footage stealing from a store in his uniform

 

Ibrahim Mohammed Alemiakurugo, a Ghana Fire Service personnel stationed in the Upper East Region has been dismissed after a CCTV footage of him shoplifiting in his uniform went viral.

 

It was gathered that the incident occurred on June 1, 2022, at a shop located on the edge of a road joining the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway from the direction of the Upper East Regional Hospital.

In the video which went viral, the officer in his service uniform stuffed his trousers with sachets of powdered milk while strolling around in the mall to shop.

 

He then moved to the checkout point to pay for a piece of bread he bought, where he met another customer who was also there to pay for his goods.

 

While the customer looked distracted and moved away from the counter, the officer placed the polythene bag over the man’s phone and pocketed it.

The man who had no idea what had transpired reportedly returned to the shop later to lodge a complaint about his missing phone. It was then agreed that the recordings on the CCTV be reviewed to ascertain what happened.

 

Upon being reviewed, it was discovered that Ibrahim Mohammed Alemiakurugo did not only steal the phone but also sachets of powdered milk as well.

 

A complaint to Upper East Regional Fire Commander, ACFO Anthony Gyasi Boateng, led to the identification of the officer who admitted to the offence.

He returned the phone and the leftover milk powder which was sent back to the shop by a team of officers. The fire officers made a payment of ¢20:40p for the parts of the stolen products which had been consumed by the officer.

 

Following a service inquiry into the incident, the officer who was interdicted pending the final outcome of the inquiry was dismissed from the Ghana National Service.

 

The GNFS’ Public Relations Officer in the Upper East Region, DOIII Callistus Nibunu, confirmed the dismissal and expressed disappointment over the conduct of the officer.

 

Nibunu said;

 

“Conclusive evidence was made that he committed the act, so his dismissal letter came. The act was committed in uniform. That sends a very bad signal as far as the image of the service is concerned.

“No organisation will want to be tagged with such an act. It’s indeed a dent on the image of the service, and the service has also used the Legislative Instrument 1725, which we are all bounded by, to apply the appropriate punishment as expected.”