Three Policemen Arrested In Delta Over Extortion Of N.3m

Three officers from the Eburumede police station in the Uvwie Local Government area have been detained by the Delta State Police Command for extorting three hundred thousand Naira (N300,000) from a driver who was stopped along the major DSC expressway but was unable to show the tinted permit for his car. The driver had been pulled over for speeding and was unable to produce the tinted permit.

According to investigations, the driver was traveling with a friend when the patrol team from the Eburumede division, which was strategically positioned on the highway, stopped them and demanded his vehicle’s papers.

After realizing that the papers were accurate, they continued by asking for permission to tint the glass.

The driver’s vehicle was impounded when he was unable to present the vehicle’s tinted permit, according to sources close to the incident scene. He was instructed to go and raise the sum of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000.00) to have his car released.

After much pleading with the patrol team that he does not have cash on him, it was discovered that they suggested he get the money from the closest POS for them so that he can go with the car right away.

According to the source, “On getting to the POS they withdrew a total sum and handed over his car documents back to him and ordered the release of his vehicle immediately from the the scene”.

“It was at this point that the driver reported what had transpired to a member of a prominent human rights group in the area who in turn got through to the Commissioner of Police, Delta Command, CP Ari Muhammed Ali, who immediately ordered an investigations into the incident”.

“It was at the point that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Eburumede Division, CSP Indifreke Iwok, and his patrol team, were summoned to Asaba, the Command’s headquarters to explain the role played in the incident.

The DPO, CSP Iwok, had been summoned to Asaba once more to explain his involvement in the scenario that led to the incident. The three members of the police team responsible for the offense have been detained at the Command’s headquarters since Monday this week.

Recall that the Inspector General of Police had just two weeks prior ordered that anyone driving with tinted glasses not be arrested and that their vehicle not be impounded, but rather that the tint be immediately removed.