77-year-old retired man charges the Lagos task force of extortion for N55,000.

In Okota, in the Isolo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, a 77-year-old retired man named Dotun Falua has accused several taskforce officers of extortion.

The retiree from Ekiti State claimed the guys forced him to give them N55,000 on Monday as he was leaving the Airport Road, where he had been seeing a family friend.

When Falua was returning from the visit, he stopped at a store on Ajao Road, which leads to Canoe Bus Stop, to make a purchase when a man who claimed to be a taskforce officer forcibly entered the car. Falua told PUNCH Metro that this happened while he was on his way back from the visit.

He said, “I went to Redstar Express, off Airport Road to see a family friend. After we finished the discussion, he offered his driver to take me back home.

“On our way back, we just stopped at a shop along Ajao Road leading to Canoe Bus Stop with the driver in the car and the car engine still on, incidentally the owner of the shop was not in and I did not even close the door of the car.

“In a jiffy, someone opened the front door and jumped in, claiming he was a task force official. He said he wanted to warn us that we should have not parked there.

“We explained to him that we are not parking and not in any way blocking traffic. There was even no traffic at that time around 2pm.”

The official, who declined to disclose his name, reportedly requested to be dropped off, according to Falua.

He claimed that until they arrived at the Okota Taskforce Office, when more thugs harassed and threatened them, the man remained instructing the driver.

He added, “While in the car, he kept telling us that it was just a warning gesture and that we just needed to move forward and drop him. He kept directing the driver until we got to Okota Taskforce Office.

“On getting there, some thugs swarmed us and forcefully ceased the car key. They stressed that unless we paid N55,000, they would not release the car.

“I told them the car was not mine, we even pleaded, but to no avail, until we transferred N55,000 plus the Point of Sale charges to an agent.”

Falua bemoaned that he had to contact the owner of the automobile, who had paid the money despite there having been no wrongdoing, and had afterwards asked that the issue be looked into and the money be refunded.

“I want this matter investigated. Let the appropriate authorities take this up to check this rubbish and return the money. The poor boy had to squeeze out this money after this extortion,” the retiree added.