The Nigeria Police Force has detained some officers attached to the Alagbado division in Lagos State for extorting N55,000 from a 17-year-old boy after harassing him.
Newsmen was told on Saturday that the teenage boy, Damilare Ibrahim, was dragged out of a commercial vehicle by the police officers at a checkpoint.
The teenager, newsmen gathered was forced to call friends and family to raise N200,000 for his release, but could only managed to gather N55,000, which he paid as ransom to the policemen.
Adekunle Adeyemi Taofeek, the Coordinator of the Take-It-Back Movement in Lagos, who disclosed the incident to newsmen on Saturday, condemned the policemen.
He said, “I see this as kidnap for ransom, as he was not even taken to the station, all went down by the roadside.”
Taofeek said that his intervention led to the identification and detention of the officers involved.
According to him, immediately he contacted the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Bamisaye Olalere, he took action, ensuring the refund of the N55,000 and disciplinary action against the erring officers.
Narrating the incident, Taofeek said: “Damilare Ibrahim, a 17 years old teenager was dragged down from a commercial vehicle by men of the Nigeria Police Force, Alagbado division yesterday at a checkpoint. He was made to call friends and family to raise the sum of 200k for his release but as a naive teenager who did not know his rights, he started calling friends and family but he was able to raise the sum of 55k.
“Someone reached out to me regarding the aforementioned and I started making calls to know which division covers the area of the checkpoint. My findings led me to Alagbado division after which I put a call through to the DPO. He was swift to identify the officers and stood his ground that he would never allow nor welcome misconduct from his men.
“The DPO texted me this morning that the officers involved have been identified and detained and also asked the boy to come for a refund.
“As a naive young teenager, he was scared to go but I volunteered to go with him. We met with the DPO and the 55k was refunded while the officers involved in the extortion are in detention to face disciplinary action.”
This incident highlights the need for accountability within the police force.
Interestingly, a similar case of extortion was reported in Bayelsa State, where four police officers were detained for allegedly extorting N10million from young individuals.
