The spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has emphasized that police personnel who use force to extort money from Nigerians are no different from armed robbers.
A cryptocurrency trader and influencer, who goes by the pseudonym X, recently accused the police of forcibly entering his home and arresting him without a search warrant.
According to X, the police, dressed in plain clothes, took all the men from his estate to the police station, where they were questioned and accused of being involved in internet fraud. He also claimed that the police confiscated money from him and extorted a total of five hundred thousand naira from the men in his estate.
In a social media post, X recounted the incident, saying, “Policemen came to my estate yesterday evening around 7 PM and detained all the men in the estate for no apparent reason. We spent the night in a cell. During the ‘questioning,’ they accused us of being involved in internet fraud. I denied it because I have no knowledge of internet fraud.
They then coerced us into writing statements, labeling us as either cultists or armed robbers. We all refused to write statements without the presence of a lawyer, but we were still made to spend the night in the cell. The next morning, they extorted over 500,000 naira from us.”
In response to these allegations, a social media user tagged the Force PRO, urging the Nigeria Police Force to address such issues. Adejobi replied, “I believe we need to clarify a few points here. He insisted on having a lawyer present and stayed in the cell. Did the lawyer arrive?
Was the money extorted in the lawyer’s presence? If the lawyer didn’t arrive, why didn’t you call someone? Was your phone taken away from you? Certain aspects need clarification. Regardless of whether the police are your friend or not, what role did your lawyer play?”
Another user shared old comments by the Force PRO condemning police extortion. In response, Adejobi reiterated his stance, saying, “Yes, this still stands. Any armed policeman or security operative who forcefully extorts money from innocent Nigerians is equivalent to an armed robber.
Extortion is not within the mandate of any agency, armed or not. We strongly condemn such actions, and even the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has made it clear.”
He continued, “The IGP has warned officers against using his name to extort or deceive Nigerians, as well as accepting gifts on his behalf. We issued an official statement on this matter. We should ask ourselves, must we continue to pay these erring policemen? Is this how things will continue?
In fact, when I read his tweet and saw that he resisted, I was pleased, but he could have continued resisting. He was within the police station premises, not on the road.
While no one supports extortion, he shouldn’t have paid them after his initial resistance. I hope this clarifies my position. Thank you.”
