Again, 3 policemen dismissed for collecting N50,000 from man exiting bank

Three policemen attached to Area ‘N’ Command, Ijede-Ikorodu under the Lagos State Police Command have been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force in connection with extortion.

This was disclosed to Metro in a statement issued and signed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), Abayomi Shogunle, on Monday.

He gave the names of the policemen as Inspector Okelue Nkemeonye, Sergeant Braimoh Sunday and Sergeant Yusuf Olukoga.

According to Shogunle, the policemen’s “dismissal followed an orderly room trial at the Zone Two Command Headquarters, Onikan-Yaba, Lagos in which the men were found guilty by the adjudicating officer on two charges of offence against discipline, as provided for in paragraphs C (ii) Corrupt Practices and E (iii) Discreditable Conduct of the First Schedule of Police Act and Regulations Cap. P19, law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

He explained that a member of the public sent a whatsapp message on June 21, stating how he was accosted by policemen in a car wearing black polo shirts with anti-robbery squad written on them at the back as he came out of a bank.

The complainant was reported to have said that the policemen forced him to enter their car, seized his mobile phone and later accused him of being an internet fraudster (Yahoo boy) when they saw the alert of the deposit he made in the bank before his arrest.

The policemen were said to have demanded N1 million, but N50,000 was eventually collected from him. They reportedly arrested other people and drove them round different areas in Ikorodu between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

“They even used my account to collect money from the guys that I met in the car and also used my ATM to withdraw the money,” Shogunle quoted the complainant to have said.

He stated further that the preliminary investigation by PCRRU revealed that all the allegations contained in the WhatsApp message actually occurred, adding that the policemen falsely paraded themselves as operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) despite not being posted to SARS by police authorities.

“Investigation also showed that the officers extorted a total sum of N200,000 from the young men who they tagged ‘Yahoo Boys.’

“The money was forced out from them via N90,000 ATM withdrawal and N110,000 mobile bank money transfer to a third party account provided by the policemen. All the extorted N200,000 was recovered by the PCRRU investigators,” he said.

Shogunle remarked that “on the case of ASP Bayo Obadiah who led the team of the infamous men on this unacceptable conduct, an official query was issued to him by the AIG Zone 2 Lagos. Both his query and response have been forwarded to the office of the Force Secretary, Force Headquarters, Abuja from where it would proceed to the Police Service Commission as required by police regulations.

“The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim K. Idris, has commended the complainant for coming forward to report the incident to PCRRU and also said that all allegations of professional misconduct reported against any police officer would be treated in line with relevant laws and in keeping to the “Change Begins With Me” campaign of the Federal Government.”