Four police officers have been taken into custody by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command for allegedly extorting ₦53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an unauthorised stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists in Abuja, describing the officers as “thieves” who had no business wearing police uniforms.

According to Sanusi, the officers abandoned their assigned duty posts and allegedly set up an illegal checkpoint around the Banex area of Wuse, where they stopped and extorted the ICPC Chairman without knowing his identity.

He said the ICPC Chairman was made 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,” he said.

The Police Commissioner said investigations showed that the officers had left their respective divisions and formed a gang that established an illegal checkpoint to extort motorists.

“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 said the Command initially declared the officers wanted before arresting their alleged gang leader, whose confession led to the arrest of 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 also reiterated that the Inspector-General of Police had prohibited officers on patrol from indiscriminately searching citizens’ mobile phones.

He advised residents to reject any unlawful demand by police officers to search their phones on the roadside and 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.

Sanusi urged members of the public to promptly report cases of extortion and other forms of misconduct by police personnel, assuring that officers found culpable would be tracked down 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,” he said.

Categories: Crime, Politics

Tags: ICPC, Nigeria Police, FCT Police, Abuja News, Extortion, Musa Aliyu, Ahmed Sanusi, Banex

Sources:
FCT Police Command Press Briefing

— Atinuke Otedola and her Editorial Team