Lagos police commissioner removes DPO over extortion

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, has ordered the removal of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Meiran Police Station in the state over alleged extortion.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in reaction to a report by Punch via his X account on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

The news platform had reported that an engineer, Ibrahim Saliu, said some policemen attached to the Meiran Police Station extorted N200,000 from him last Saturday.

Saliu said the policemen, alongside the station’s DPO, threatened him and his brother with jail time should they fail to provide receipts for the phones seen with his brother.

The engineer said: “The DPO took the iPhones, removed the warranty stickers, and declared that my brother and I are thieves and armed robbers.

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“The next thing I heard was the DPO giving them an order to detain us and that we would be locked up for stealing and armed robbery. We were surprised that we started begging.”

Saliu added that he was asked to make a N500,000 payment to secure their freedom before the police officers later agreed to N200,000 pay.

However, Hundeyin, while speaking on the incident, said Owohunwa has ordered the immediate removal of the Meiran Police Station DPO.

The police spokesman, who shared the pictures of the officers involved, stated: “CP Idowu Owohunwa has ordered the immediate removal of DPO Meiran for leadership dereliction and supervisory ineptitude.

“Meanwhile, all the officers involved have been identified and are currently at the Command headquarters where their orderly room trial has commenced.”

The Star