Thursday, March 28, 2024

IGP’s anti-corruption team arrests 20 police officers for extortion

The anti-corruption crusade of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has caught up with no fewer than 20 police officers alleged to be involved in extortion.

Our correspondent learnt that the policemen were arrested some weeks back at different locations in Lagos, following formal complaints against them by either their victims or concerned members of the public.

Some of their victims had claimed that the arrested officers, against their wish, would search their pockets and make away with any valuable found or simply force them to make withdrawals from their bank accounts for what is generally referred to as “settlement money”.

According to a victim’s statement of complaint, he was on his way to an embassy for a visa application when a patrol team accosted him under the Obalende Bridge for a routine check.

“They put me through unimaginable agony before taking away my money.

I later reported them to their superior officers at Alagbon,” he said.

Our correspondent gathered that some of the arrested police officers falsely accused their victims of being “Yahoo boys” and threatened to hand them over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“With the combination of coercion and psychological attacks, victims are made vulnerable,” revealed a source at the Force Criminal Investigations Department, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, where a handful of suspects were being grilled.

According to some other complainants, who spoke with our correspondent under the condition of anonymity at the State Criminal Investigations Department, Yaba, “We simply became panicky to make the withdrawals to settle the usually armed officers, who could do us more harm should we fail to do their biddings”.

Investigations by The Point further revealed that the police in Lagos, especially those attached to specialised sections, have routinely abandoned their beats only to chase around “Yahoo boys,” which they (policemen) believe are the real cash cows.

“Many of these officers are known to have fatally shot five persons in the course of chasing around the so called “Yahoo Boys.”

The latest victim was a woman selling cake bean in Mushin who was killed barely three weeks ago.

“The dust raised following the killing of another victim, some months back at Orile Agege, has not yet settled when another guy was chased at Iyana-Oba and fatally shot. That one too was barely four months ago”, an independent police source said.

Preliminary enquiry at the Legal Section of the Police at the SCID, indicated that, “of all the arrested officers, five of them could be charged with murder because of a prima facie case against them”.

However, spokesperson for Zone 2, Police Command, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said that her office had not yet been briefed on the matter. Badmos pleaded for time to make enquiries at the appropriate quarters. “We shall investigate and get back to you “, she said. But as of press time, she had yet to get back to us.

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