Police Arrest Officers For Extorting ICPC Chairman

Four police officers have been arrested by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command for allegedly extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, 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 briefing journalists in Abuja.

Sanusi described the officers as “thieves” who had no business wearing the police uniform.

According to him, the officers abandoned their designated duty posts, converged around the Banex area of Wuse and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint where they extorted motorists.

Sanusi said the ICPC chairman was among their victims. Unaware of his identity, the officers allegedly forced him to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale operator, made him pay the transaction charges and later shared the money among themselves.

“I must say here too that 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.

“They extorted him of N53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” he said.

The police commissioner said investigations showed the officers had formed a criminal gang after leaving their various duty posts.

“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,” he said.

Sanusi said the command declared the officers wanted before arresting their gang leader, whose confession led to the arrest of the other members.

“We got all of them. We are going to make sure they are severely punished. Those that are going to be dismissed will definitely be dismissed,” he added.

He urged members of the public to promptly report cases of extortion and other misconduct by police personnel, assuring that officers found culpable would be sanctioned.

“We will still enforce the IG’s directive. Some of them are on the task because they are criminally minded. They want to perpetrate such acts. If we get them, they will face disciplinary actions and will be made to face the consequences,” Sanusi said.