Police To Probe N206,000 Allegedly Extorted From Resident By Officers In Delta State

The Delta State Police is set to investigate a complaint of alleged extortion by officers attached to its command, who cleared the sum of N206,000 from a resident’s bank account.

The complaint was made public by a human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu on Friday. 

He revealed how the victim was allegedly arrested by operatives of the Delta Police Command and was forced to give access to his phone.

Gwamnishu, popularly known to utilise his X Account handle, to demand justice and hold government officials accountable, shared a WhatsApp screen record of the victim recounting his ordeal with the operatives.

His post read, “With all this awareness and arrest of police officers involved in criminal extortion, a few hours ago, some officers in Delta State did this (referring to the screen-recorded WhatsApp voice note) to this man.

“They collected this money inside the premises of Agbarho Divisional Police Station.”

The 1:11 minute WhatsApp screen recorded voicenote, read: “They took me to their station, but they didn’t take me to their counter. It was at the back of the station they took me to that they handcuffed me and started to beat me.

“They kept beating me because they previously asked me to open my phone. They (officers) said, if I do not open my phone, they won’t stop to beat me.

“Having beaten me and punched me several times in my mouth, I decided to open my phone. They collected my phone and opened all my mobile apps.

“They checked all my accounts. The only account where I had N168,000, they said I would bail myself and my brother, whom they also arrested. They said we would bail ourselves with N600,000.

“They kept beating us, and when I could no longer take it, I agreed that they should take N200,000, so I could leave there. They later called a POS operator there at the station.

“The money was transferred to the operator, who later gave them cash — N100,000 each.”

Gwamnishu also shared a bank debit alert showing the receipt of N206,000 debited to the POS operator company identified as ‘MB IFO Praise Global P Praise GI’.

The date on the receipt showed that the transaction occurred at about 11:21 am on Friday.

Reacting to the allegations, the spokesperson of the Delta Police Command, Bright Edafe said, “I am just seeing this on social media. Please send me their contact so I can reach out to them. Thank you”.

Although the reasons for their reported arrest were not stated, the Nigeria Police Force has publicly condemned and arrested police officers found culpable of indiscriminate extortion and cash for bail.

The Police have also sensitised Nigerians to shun all forms of cash for bail, as police administrative bail is free, and those who must pay for bail must demand an invoice or receipt to prove payment.