N100,000 extortion: Lagos Police Move Against Tactical Officers

The Lagos State Police Command has commenced disciplinary action against officers of the Tactical Unit attached to the Mile 2 Police Station following allegations that they detained four young men and extorted N100,000 from them.

The action followed a report of the incident and subsequent attention drawn to the case by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), prompting the Area Commander, ACP Godwin Oti Chike, to investigate the matter.

Oti confirmed that he had taken statements from the four victims and identified the officers involved as members of the Tactical Unit attached to the Mile 2 Police Station.

He also disclosed that the N100,000 allegedly collected from the youths had been refunded.

“I have taken the statements from the boys involved and I have gotten the officers to refund the money to them and the issue has been resolved amicably,” he said.

The four young men were reportedly arrested by Tactical Unit officers while returning to their hotel after visiting Festival Cinema in FESTAC, Lagos.

One of the victims, Ayomide Akinpelu Salvation, told FIJ that the ordeal began when he and his three friends started running after hearing a commotion and seeing people scrambling with cutlasses.

The youths reportedly encountered the police officers while trying to leave the area and were allegedly accused of being armed robbers.

“They started by saying we were armed robbers, asking where we threw our guns and dagger,” Akinpelu said.

Although the men reportedly explained that they had just left the cinema and showed their cinema tickets, they were allegedly accused of being cultists and taken to the Mile 2 Police Station at about 11pm.

According to Akinpelu, the officers questioned them about why they had fled the area and told them that the location was a known meeting point for cultists.

At about 1:30am, the four men were reportedly called individually to write statements.

Akinpelu alleged that an officer subsequently asked how much they could raise if they were required to bail themselves, before asking him to display his bank account balance on his phone.

The other three men were reportedly subjected to the same demand.

The youths said they could collectively raise N100,000, but were initially told that the amount had been rejected by a superior officer.

After further questioning at about 5am, the men were eventually released after allegedly contributing N100,000.

A transfer receipt obtained in connection with the incident reportedly showed that the money was paid into an OPay account bearing the name Wahab Ayinde Abdulrasaq.

The youths maintained that nothing incriminating was found in their possession and that they had evidence, including cinema tickets, payment receipts and photographs, to establish where they had been shortly before their arrest.

Following the report, ACP Oti said he intervened, took statements from the victims and secured a refund of the N100,000.

The Lagos Police Command has indicated that disciplinary measures will be taken against the officers involved, as the incident raises fresh concerns over allegations of extortion and abuse of power by police personnel.