CP removes DPO as Rogue cops extort N153,000 from undergraduate

In the Ojota neighborhood of Lagos State, four police officers assigned to the Ogudu Police Division have taken Emmanuel Nnawuihe, a student at Cyprus University, and demanded N153,000 from him.

PUNCH According to Metro, Nnawuihe was traveling within the state when he was flagged down for a search at the Ojota under-bridge area by police officers who were on operational duty.

After complying with the policemen’s request, it was discovered that neither the vehicle nor the phone owned by Nnawuihe had any evidence of criminal activity.

The cops allegedly escorted the student to a lonely area near the underpass where they made him open his mobile banking app rather than letting him continue on his route.

A source claimed that the four cops allegedly threatened to injure Nnawuihe unless he agreed to transfer the money into an account owned by someone who was not there after discovering that he had roughly N2 million in his bank account.

According to the source, the student declined because he had done nothing illegal and the money did not belong to him, but the policeman continued to intimidate him.

The source claimed that the undergraduate started negotiating with the policeman after realizing that they were in danger of losing their lives. The source added that the officers eventually agreed to a settlement of N153,000 and gave the account number where the money was paid into.

The source said, “The incident happened around 3.30pm on Saturday, June 3, 2023, but Nnawuihe transferred the money around 4.08pm. What exactly happened was that the policemen stopped his vehicle around Ojota, when they did not find anything incriminating on him, they took him to a location where he was threatened to part away with the N2m found in his bank account.

“But he disagreed with them and they threatened to harm him till he agreed to pay them N153,000 after a series of negotiations. The policemen were the ones that provided the account number where the money was transferred into. It was after he transferred the money that the policemen released him.”

Nnawuihe reported the incident to the Lagos State Police Command and state police commissioner Idowu Owohunwa assigned police officers to find the accused police officers and bring them in for questioning.

Nnawuihe was transferred to the Ogudu Police Division during the inquiry, where he helped identify the officers. The officers were then transported to the police headquarters in Ikeja, where they were arrested and subjected to more questioning.

It was discovered that Nnawuihe also produced the receipt for the N153,000 transfer he made to the account provided by the accused officers in addition to writing an official statement to support his assertions.

It was observed that the money was transferred into an account owned by one Edidiong Anthony Ekpo.

As of the time of filing this report, our correspondents gathered that the money had been refunded back to the undergraduate and the four policemen had been undergoing an orderly room trial.

Additionally, it was discovered that the CP had directed the immediate dismissal of CSP Celestina Kalu, the Divisional Police Officer for the Ogudu Division, pending the conclusion of the orderly room trial, for failing to oversee her troops in connection with the extortion against Nnawuihe.

When reached, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police public relations officer, verified the event and said the command had opened an investigation.

He said, “The money (N153,000) has been refunded to the victim and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Idowu Owohunwa, has ordered a probe of the allegation against the policemen who are currently in detention. The policemen are undergoing an orderly room trial. The redeployment of DPOs is routine.”

However, the state has seen a rise in police extortion of inhabitants and drivers.

Owohunwa ordered the immediate dismissal of the DPO of Okokomaiko, SP Emmanuel Edebagha, in a statement by Hundeyin on Saturday, April 16, 2023, for failing to also oversee his men who were suspected of extorting a trader at the Alaba International Market, Onyinyechi Anwusi, of N100,000.