Police Extortion, Harassment Continues In Osun

 

• We Were Made To Pay $504, N40, 000 – Cyprus Returnee, Student

Ismaeel Uthman

BARELY six weeks after OSUN DEFENDER published an investigative report on how some policemen were extorting youths in the State of Osun, there have been fresh reported cases of extortions, harassments and threats by men of Nigeria Police Force, Osun Command.

Victims of the police extortion had taken to their twitter handles to narrate how they were allegedly extorted and harassed by the policemen, especially officers of the Prompt Response Unit (PRU). 

Investigations revealed that majority of the PRU officers were members of the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS). 

Two victims of the reported fresh cases accused the policemen of extorting them of a sum of $504 and N40,000 at different time on Gbongan/Ibadan Road. 

One of the victims, a Cyprus-based Nigerian, Ifeoluwa Lawal, posted on his twitter account @St_hiffy, on April 4, 2022 that he was extorted by some policemen on Gbongan/Osogbo road. 

Lawal said he had visited his grandparents with his family and was returning to Abeokuta, Ogun State, when a policeman stopped his car around the Sekona Grammar School, Ede.

He explained that another policeman took his phone and saw a screenshot of a crypto transaction he recently had.

The victim said the cops accused him of being an Internet fraudster and threatened to hand him over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

According to Lawal, the policemen later demanded for $2,000 as a bribe.

Lawal said: “I came back to Nigeria February and yesterday I was extorted of $504(292k) from the Nigerian police (Force Intelligence Bureau) along Osogbo road. They stopped us, me, dad and two of my brothers, collected our phones and vehicle particulars.

“They searched through and saw Binance app on my phone with $800usd in it which is for the payment of my school fee in Cyprus. I was to send the usd to my friend in Cyprus to help change to euro€ so he can pay on my behalf. 

“They threatened to kill and jail us and drove us for like 2 hours all around the express road. I managed to snap their number plate. Twitter people please help me recover my school fee.”

However, OSUN DEFENDER who was monitoring the trend of the tweets observed that the Police Complain Unit commented on the tweet and promised to investigate the matter.

On April 4, 2022, Lawal posted again on his tweeter handle saying: “Guys, I appreciate you all for the support and also the authorities that got involved, PPRO Osun State & OC SIB of the same department that extorted me have asked us to come to Osogbo tomorrow, we’d be there and hopefully I get refunded.”

Around 9:42pm on Tuesday, Lawal tweeted that the police has refunded his money. He tweeted: I Got My Money Back!!! Thank you so much tweetfam. The Police are not bad at all, just that the bad heads amongst them making things difficult, hope the law and God change the bad heads to good. The Nigerian government also need to do better for the police, they need help. Once again thank you to everyone.”

He appreciated the Police Complaint Unit, the Police Public Relations Officer, Osun Command, Mrs. Yemisi Opalola and the OC State Investigative Bureau for their efforts on the matter. 

When contacted, Opalola confirmed the incident, saying the accused police officers have been identified and facing disciplinary action.

Opalola said: “We have identified the officers and they are currently facing disciplinary action. They have also refunded the money they collected from the victim. 

“I am using this medium to reiterate that the police under the leadership of CP Wale Olokode will not tolerate unprofessional behaviour, indiscipline from any of the officers. I want to urge members of the public to also channel their genuine complaints against any policeman to the office of the PPRO.”  

Narrating his ordeal, another victim of the police extortion, Mr. Lateef Oyewole, a Computer Science Student of Federal Polytechnic, Ede, said some policemen forced him to transfer a sum of N40,000 to an account when he was stopped along Gbongan/Osogbo road on March 28, 2022.

Oyewole, in a reply to Lawal’s tweet, said he was travelling to Osogbo when the commercial bus conveying him was stopped before Gbongan and he was asked to alight from the bus. 

He said: On the 28th of March, 2022. I was travelling to Osogbo and they (police) stop my bus, then searched my bag seized my phone and told me to unlock it. I refused at first but I later did after they threatened me. They told the driver to leave me and be going. The driver begged them but he later left when they did not listen to him. 

They checked my phone and said I am into fraud, they threatened to take me to EFCC office in Ibadan. Later, they asked me to open my bank app and I did. They said I should bring 300k (N300,000) before they could release me, and I said I could not find that kind of amount, they later reduced it to 50k (N50,000).

“They had seen a balance of 40k (N40,000) in my bank app. They asked me to call people to lend me 10k (N10,000) to balance the N50,000 they requested. Thay asked me to enter their car (not their patrol van but a car with no plate number), they were all putting on police uniform with police tag, name and Ak47 riffle. After waiting for the 10k and I could not get it, they asked me to send the 40k and they drop me off at Gbongan.”

Oyewole posted the receipt of the N40,000 he was allegedly forced to transfer into an account on his tweeter handle. The name on the recipient account is Timileyin Amobi Oloyede, Polaris Bank. 

Another resident of the state, Mr. Damilare Adebowale, who commented on the tweets, also accused some policemen of threatening to kill him when the car conveying him was stopped along Ibadan/Ikire road.   

Adebowale posted on his tweeter handle on Monday, saying: “Last week, I was going to Ibadan from Osogbo. I met them (policemen) along Ikire. They stopped our car, luckily I wasn’t the one driving. They searched our car and told me to come down.

“One of the officers told me to unlock my phone I told him I won’t. The next he said was that I should look around to see if there’s any building. He told me he is a SARS officer that shot a guy dead in Ede, that people know him as radical. He said I am lucky I was not the one driving. My aunt had to beg before he could let us go.”

One of the tweeter users who commented on the tweets said: “Gbongan/Osogbo (especially after Sekona) Road is now a hot cake. The stop and search of phone on that road is like a toll gate… hold up like 1hr before your phone is thoroughly search. we have entered problems in Nigeria for real oh.

“Even if you are in a commercial bus, all of you will come down for thorough search one by one. what for? …that’s where they are making their own money in day light robbery.”