THE Federal Capital Territory Police Command has detained four police officers for allegedly extorting ₦53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.
News Point Nigeria reports that the Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the development on Monday while briefing journalists in Abuja, describing the officers as “thieves” who had no business wearing the police uniform.
According to Sanusi, the officers mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex area of Wuse after abandoning their respective duty posts and allegedly extorted the ICPC chairman without knowing his identity.
The police commissioner explained that the anti-corruption agency boss was compelled to withdraw ₦53,000 through a Point of Sale operator and also paid the transaction charges before the officers allegedly 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 ₦53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” Sanusi said.
He noted that preliminary investigations revealed that the officers had left their designated duty posts, regrouped and formed what he described as a criminal gang operating an illegal checkpoint to extort motorists in the nation’s capital.
“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 stated.
Sanusi further disclosed that the command subsequently declared the officers wanted before arresting the gang leader, whose confession reportedly led investigators to the other 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,” he added.
The commissioner reiterated that the Inspector-General of Police had expressly prohibited indiscriminate searches of citizens’ mobile phones by officers on patrol duties across the country.
He advised residents of the Federal Capital Territory and Nigerians generally to resist any unlawful demand by police personnel to inspect their phones on the roadside 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,” Sanusi said.
He also urged 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 and sanctioned.
“We will still enforce the IG’s directive. Some of them are on the task because they are criminally minded. They want to perpetrate such acts. If we get them, they will face disciplinary actions and will be made to face the consequences,” the commissioner added.