Crimes

Lagos CP removes DPO over N153,000 extortion from undergraduate

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, has ordered the removal of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ogudu Police Division for the lack of supervision of the division’s officers.

It was gathered that Owohunwa removed the DPO after the police officers of the division falsely labelled an undergraduate of Cyprus University, Emmanuel Nnawuihe, as a fraudster and extorted N153,000 from him in the Ojota area of the state.

It was learned that Nnawuihe was driving to a destination in the state on Saturday, June 3, when the policemen, who were on operational duty, flagged him down for a search around the under-bridge area of Ojota.

The police officers were said to have searched Nnawuihe’s vehicle and his mobile phone and found nothing incriminating.

It was further gathered that the policemen, after the search, took the student to a lonely spot around the under bridge and forced him to open his mobile bank application.

It was learned that the police officers upon sighting that Nnawuihe had about N2 million in his bank account, allegedly threatened to harm him unless he agreed to transfer the money into an account owned by another person who was not at the scene.

Speaking on the incident, a source disclosed that the student refused because he did nothing wrong and that the money does not belong to him but the policemen kept threatening him.

The source added that the undergraduate, after observing that his life was in harm’s way through the desperation of the policemen, initiated a negotiation with them, adding that through the negotiation, the policemen settled for N153,000 and provided the account number where the money was paid into.

It was further gathered that Nnawuihe, who became angered after being extorted by the policemen, informed the Lagos State Police Command.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, it was gathered, ordered the arrest of the accused policemen for questioning.

Confirming the incident, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the policemen had been arrested, adding that the command had commenced an investigation into the case.

“The money (N153,000) has been refunded to the victim and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Idowu Owohunwa, has ordered a probe of the allegation against the policemen who are currently in detention.

“The policemen are undergoing an orderly room trial. The redeployment of DPOs is routine,” Hundeyin told Punch.

The Star