Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed reports.
TrackNews Nigeria covers that four gallant officers of the Nigerian Police Force have been arrested for allegedly extortion of a man, identified as Uche Anthony, of a big sun of N300,000 on Wednesday in Lagos, the spokesman of the Force, Muyiwa Adejob, confirmed this.
While narrating his brutal ordeal by the victim to this reporter, the policemen cocked their gun and coerced him to an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, to withdraw N280,000, which they added to the N20,000 cash he had on him and took with them.
Anthony, who took to social media handle to lament his maltreatment, asserted that his only offence was having finance technology (fintech) apps on his phone and foreign numbers in his contact.
He wrote: “I just got accosted by the police and I was extorted of N300,000 in Lagos. Simply because I have Binance and Trust wallet on my phone. I use an iPhone13 pro max and I am in a lot of crypto groups and I am talking to foreign numbers who happen to be my uncles and cousins abroad.
“They seized my phone and won’t let me even explain. For the first time in my life someone cocked a gun at me and said I should enter the car. I’m still in the trauma of the experience. I could quickly pick up the name of one of the police officers.
“They insisted I must pay them more than half of what is in my account. They went to my message inbox and saw my GTB balance. I said I wasn’t paying a dime and they said I’ll sleep in the cell and no one will know because they were with my phone.
“I was so scared of my life as I have read stories of people shot dead and abandoned somewhere. They drove me about for hours and we started negotiating. They said N500,000or nothing. Omo, I started thinking that these guys might just kill me and I don’t want to trend with the hashtag #justiceforuche.
“They drove me to a bank in Maryland and asked me to go and withdraw cash. All the while they had my phone so I could not make any recording or take any pictures.
“They took the money from me and destroyed the withdrawal receipt. They had me order a bolt driver before letting me go.”
Anthony’s call for help attracted the attention of the Force Police Public Relations Officer (FPPRO), CSP Muyiwa Adejobi who contacted the Lagos command and proclaimed an investigative scrutiny of the claim.
After some days, Adejobi revealed on his Twitter handle that the police team responsible for the extortion had been identified and arrested.
“He reported and we have identified them in Ikeja Area F. We have summoned them with their team leader to Abuja for proper investigation and possible sanction,” he added.
