Crimes

Police dismiss Sergeant over N98,000 extortion

The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed Sergeant Ekpo Shimuyere attached to Sogunle Division for extorting a young man of N98,000.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who made this known on Wednesday, May 31, said the Provost Department of the command had already disrobed the dismissed Sergeant.

He disclosed that the dismissed Sergeant collected the phone of his victim and used a Point of Sale (PoS) operator to transfer N98,000 out of the N100,000 in the young man’s bank account.

Hundeyin said the action of the policeman was contrary to the ethics of the profession.

The police spokesman stated: “Police got the complaint from the victim and the officer denied the crime when he was contacted. The command placed him under detention so that he will not tamper with the evidence.

“We wrote to his bank and obtained his statement of account. We were able to trace the money to where the PoS operator transferred it to before transferring the money to the officer’s account.

“We followed due process to get his account. The victim was invited in the course of investigation, and he testified.

“The PoS operator was also invited and he said the officer requested him to transfer the money from the victim’s account to another one.”

Hundeyin said the Sergeant was consequently subjected to orderly room trial in line with extant laws, adding: “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos Command, Idowu Owohunwa, have reviewed the orderly room procedure of the officer with Force No. 461654, attached to Sogunle Police Division and have approved the punishment of dismissal from the Force.”

Hundeyin noted that the police commissioner warned officers against any form of corruption, stressing that the dismissal was to serve as a deterrent to others.

The police spokesperson further warned that the command would continue to punish any police officer found to have engaged in unprofessional conduct.

The Star