By Jane Okafor, Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has detained four police officers 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 officers as “thieves” who had no business wearing the police uniform.
According to Sanusi, the officers abandoned their assigned duty posts, converged around the Banex area of Wuse, and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint where they extorted motorists, including the ICPC chairman, without knowing his identity.
He said the anti-graft agency boss was compelled to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) operator, paid the transaction charges, and the officers subsequently 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,” Sanusi said.
The commissioner said investigations showed that the officers had deserted their respective duty posts and formed a criminal gang that established an illegal checkpoint to extort unsuspecting members of the public.
“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.
Sanusi further revealed that the command declared the officers wanted before arresting their gang leader, whose confession 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.
Reaffirming the Nigeria Police Force’s stance against illegal stop-and-search operations, the commissioner reminded officers and members of the public that the Inspector-General of Police had outlawed the indiscriminate search of citizens’ mobile phones during patrols.
He urged residents to reject any unlawful demand by police officers 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.
The police commissioner also encouraged the public to promptly report cases of extortion and other forms of misconduct by police personnel, assuring that offending 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,” Sanusi said.
