Four police officers have been detained by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command for allegedly extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the incident on Monday while briefing journalists in Abuja, describing the suspects as “criminals” who had no place in the Nigeria Police Force.
Sanusi said the officers abandoned their lawful duty posts, converged around the Banex area of Wuse, and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint where they allegedly preyed on unsuspecting motorists.
According to him, the officers intercepted the ICPC chairman without recognising him and allegedly compelled him to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) operator. The victim also paid the transaction charges before the officers reportedly shared the money among themselves.
“I must say here too that we have about four policemen in custody as we speak who successfully extorted somebody of high importance, unknown to them that this person is a highly placed person in society. In clear terms, they extorted the Chairman of the ICPC.
“They extorted him of N53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” the commissioner said.
Sanusi explained that preliminary investigations revealed the officers had deserted their assigned duty posts to form an extortion ring operating an illegal checkpoint in the Wuse-Banex axis.
“They are a gang of criminals who left various divisions, clustered together, moved to Wuse Banex and created a checkpoint where they perpetrated this act before fleeing,” he said.
He disclosed that the command declared the suspects wanted before apprehending the gang leader, whose confession led investigators to the arrest of the remaining members of the syndicate.
“We got all of them. We are going to make sure they are severely punished. Those that are going to be dismissed will definitely be dismissed,” Sanusi added.
The police commissioner reiterated that the Inspector-General of Police had outlawed the indiscriminate search of citizens’ mobile phones by officers on patrol, warning that such practices are illegal.
He urged residents to reject unlawful demands by policemen to inspect their phones during roadside checks and to immediately report such incidents through the police emergency lines.
“You cannot stop anybody on the road and ask the person to bring out his phone for search. If any policeman stops you and asks to search your phone, don’t agree. Call the police emergency lines and we will ask them why,” he said.
Sanusi also called on members of the public to promptly report cases of extortion, harassment and other forms of misconduct involving police personnel, assuring that erring officers would be identified, prosecuted and sanctioned in line with the law.
