Police Detain 4 Officers Over  N53,000 Extortion of ICPC Chairman in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has detained four police officers accused of extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

‎The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists in Abuja, describing the officers as criminals who had no place in the Nigeria Police Force.

‎According to the commissioner, the officers allegedly abandoned their official duty posts and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex area of Wuse, where they targeted motorists for illegal payments.

‎Sanusi said the officers unknowingly stopped the ICPC chairman and forced him to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) operator, including payment of transaction charges, before sharing the money among themselves.

“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,” he said.

The police boss said investigations revealed that the officers operated as a syndicate after leaving their assigned divisions to create an illegal checkpoint where they allegedly harassed and extorted members of the public.

Advertisement

“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,” Sanusi stated.

‎He added that the command had earlier declared the officers wanted before the arrest of the suspected gang leader, whose confession led to the apprehension of other members of the group.

‎Sanusi assured that the officers would face severe disciplinary action, including possible dismissal from the force if found guilty.

The commissioner also reiterated the Inspector-General of Police’s directive banning officers from carrying out indiscriminate searches of citizens’ mobile phones during patrols.

‎He advised residents to resist unlawful demands by police personnel to search their phones on the roadside and urged them to report such incidents through official police emergency channels.

‎Sanusi assured members of the public that cases of police misconduct and extortion would be thoroughly investigated and that any officer found culpable would be punished in line with the law.

Advertisement