Ogun State Police Command has dismissed three police officer for extorting the sum of ₦153,000 from a student of Lagos State University (LASU), Sheriff Adedigba.
Police Public Relations Officer of Ogun State Police Command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi made the disclosure in a Press Statement on Tuesday afternoon.
The dismissed policemen; Inspector Sunday John, Sergeant Jimoh Asimiyu and Sergeant Solomon Adedapo forcefully collected the said amount from Adedigba while he was travelling to Lagos from Abeokuta.
The LASU student said the officers, who are armed to the teeth, led him out of the car and asked what he does for a living.
“I told them I am a LASU student and they told me to unlock my phone but I refused; they threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate with them. They brought out a shocker, so I obliged.”
“The officers asked me how many bank accounts I had and how much was in each of them. I told them I had two – GT bank and Union bank. So I opened my phone due to the threat from them and upon going through it, I was asked to pay the sum of ₦1m but I told them I didn’t have up to that amount.”
“Later on, they asked me to open my bank app, where they saw a balance of N288,000 and told me they would collect N250,000 out of it even without telling me what I did wrong. I begged them that I needed the money for some things; they insisted on collecting ₦150,000.”
“Then they asked me to give them my ATM card; I denied having one, so they took me to a Paga shop they have connection with. The Paga man collected a fee of N3,000 after negotiating from N5,000. On a final note, I did a transfer of #153,000.”
The transaction receipt of the money transferred showed Ajayi Abayomi Oluwafemi with account number 0131834643 with Union Bank as the receiver of the extortion.”
“The Paga guy asked me to delete the alert message. He also asked me to delete the receipt on the app but I refused.” Adedigba stated.
It was gathered that Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, in a statement by the Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Oyeyemi ordered the immediate arrest and detention of the crook cops having got wind of the matter from various social media platforms.
The policemen were eventually arrested, identified, and detained on the Commissioner’s order. They were also thoroughly investigated, and they later confessed to the crime.
Newsmen learnt that the three officers were subsequently arraigned for departmental orderly room trail on a three-count charge of corrupt practices, discreditable conduct and disobedience to lawful order.
According to the statement by Oyeyemi, the Command found them guilty of the offence and dismissed the trio from service to serve as a deterrent to other police officers serving in the Command.
Meanwhile, the statement further said that the money was returned to its rightful owner as the victim, Sheriff, commended the Commissioner of Police and his team for their prompt response.
The CP issued a strong warning to other police officers who are still in the business of extortion and other illegal activities, adding said such acts would not go unpunished.
He therefore, appealed to members of the public to always endeavour to report any act of gross misconduct from any officer of the command to him personally, or through any of the principal officers of the command, adding that such matters will be treated with utmost urgency.