A Ghana Fire Service personnel, Ibrahim Mohammed Alemiakurugo, has been dismissed after a CCTV footage of him shoplifting in his uniform went viral.
Alemiakurugo, who was stationed in the Upper East Region, reportedly stole goods from a shop located on the edge of a road joining the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway from the direction of the Upper East Regional Hospital on June 1, 2022.
In the video that went viral, the officer in his service uniform stuffed his trousers with sachets of powdered milk while strolling around the mall to shop.
He then went to the cash register to pay for a loaf of bread he had purchased. While waiting, he met another customer who was also there to pay for his purchases.
While the customer moved and showed signs of distraction, the officer placed the polythene bag over the man’s phone and pocketed it.
The man whose phone was stolen returned to the shop later to lodge a complaint about his missing phone. It was then agreed that the recordings on the CCTV would 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 the 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 officer made a payment of 20:40p for the parts of the stolen products that 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.
“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.” He said.
