Four police officers attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have been arrested for allegedly extorting ₦53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), at an illegal checkpoint in Abuja.
The officers were reportedly apprehended after they mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex Plaza area in Wuse II, where they allegedly stopped motorists to extort money under the guise of routine stop-and-search operations.
According to the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, the officers abandoned their official duty posts to operate what he described as an extortion ring.
The incident reportedly occurred when the officers stopped a vehicle conveying the ICPC chairman, who was travelling without an official escort or siren.
The policemen allegedly demanded the vehicle documents and sought to search his phone before insisting that he “drop something.”
When he declined, the officers allegedly compelled him to accompany them to a nearby Point of Sale (POS) terminal, where he withdrew ₦53,000, including transaction charges, which they reportedly shared among themselves.
Unaware of the identity of the motorist they had stopped, the officers allowed him to leave after collecting the money.
Dr. Aliyu subsequently lodged a formal complaint with the police authorities, prompting an immediate investigation by the FCT Police Command.
Acting on the complaint, detectives tracked down and arrested the four officers, who reportedly confessed during interrogation to mounting the illegal checkpoint for the purpose of extorting motorists.
Condemning the officers’ conduct, Commissioner Sanusi described them as criminals who had no place in the Nigeria Police Force.
“Those are criminals. They have no place in the Nigeria Police Force. We will dismiss them, and they will be severely punished,” the police commissioner said.
He also reminded Nigerians that police officers have no legal authority to demand or search citizens’ mobile phones during routine patrols.
“As a police officer, you cannot just 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,” he said.
Sanusi reaffirmed the command’s commitment to sanitising the Force, warning that corrupt personnel would continue to be identified, disciplined and removed.
“We will continue fishing out bad eggs from the Force. Corrupt personnel will not be tolerated,” he added.