The Federal Capital Territory 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, Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the development while addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, describing the officers as unfit to wear the police uniform.
According to Sanusi, the officers abandoned their official duty posts, converged around the Banex area of Wuse, and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint where they allegedly extorted motorists, including the ICPC chairman, without knowing his identity.
He said the anti-corruption agency boss was allegedly compelled to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale operator, pay the transaction charges, after which the officers 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,” Sanusi said.
“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,” he added.
The commissioner said investigations showed that the suspects left their various divisions to form what he described as a criminal gang operating an illegal checkpoint in the Wuse-Banex area before fleeing after the incident.
“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 disclosed that the command declared the officers wanted before apprehending their alleged gang leader, whose confession reportedly led investigators to the remaining suspects.
“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 stated.
The police commissioner also reiterated that the Inspector-General of Police had prohibited indiscriminate searches of citizens’ mobile phones by officers on patrol.
“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.
He urged residents of the FCT to report cases of extortion and other forms of police misconduct, assuring that officers found culpable would face disciplinary measures.
“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 added.
