Policemen  in custody for  allegedly stealing money from student. 

The commissioner of police Ogun state police command CP Edward Awolowo Ajogun has ordered the immediate arrest of three mobile policemen who were alleged to have extorted the sum of  one hundred and fifty three thousand (#153,000 ) from one Sheriff Adedigba, a student of Lagos state university. 

The three policemen namely:Inspector Sunday John, Sgt. Jimoh Asimiya and Sgt. Solomon Adedapo were alleged to have forcefully extorted the said amount of money from the complainant while he was traveling from Abeokuta to Lagos. 

Having heard about the incident on social media, the commissioner of police directed the Dpo Owode Egba division whose jurisdiction the incident happened to fish out the erring officers with immediate effect.  The three officers were quickly identified and apprehended. The money was recovered from them and returned to the victim, while the officers are currently undergoing departmental orderly room trial where appropriate punishment will be awarded to them. 

The CP therefore, appealed to members of the public not to hesitate to report any officer of the command found doing anything that is not consistent with the law of land. The cp also warned officers and men of the command to desist from any act capable of tarnishing the image of the force, as such will not be condoned.

How it happened  

At Gunpoint, Policemen in Ogun State,  Force LASU Student To Transfer N153,000 Via POS.

 “Later on, they asked me to open my bank app, where they saw a balance of N288,000 and told me they would collect N250,000 out of it even without telling me what I did wrong..."

Gun-wielding officers from Owode Egba Police Station at Isiun area of Ogun State  stopped  Hezekiah Oluwaponmile on his way to Abeokuta, from Ibadan Oyo State on 24th April 2021. 

The Lagos State University (LASU) student said the officers, armed to the teeth, led him out of the car and asked what he does for a living.

“I told them I am a LASU Student they told me to unlock my phone but I refused; they threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate with them. They brought out a shocker, so I obliged.”

The officers asked me how many bank accounts I had and how much was in each of them. 

“I told them I had two, GT bank and Union bank. 

So I opened my phone due to the threat from them and upon going through it, I was asked to pay the sum of N1,000,000 but I told them I didn’t have up to that amount. 

“Later on, they asked me to open my bank app, where they saw a balance of N288,000 and told me they would collect N250,000 out of it even without telling me what I did wrong. 

I begged them that I needed the money for some things; they insisted on collecting #150,000. 

“Then they asked me to give them my ATM card; I denied having one, so they took me to a Paga shop they have connection with. The Paga man collected a fee of N3,000 after negotiating from N5,000. On a final note, I did a transfer of #153,000.”

The transaction receipt of the money transferred showed Ajayi Abayomi Oluwafemi with account number 0131834643 with Union Bank as the receiver of the extortion.

Hezekiah likened the activities of the officers to armed robbers, said he was sure the Point of Sale (POS) operator was a collaborator with the accused Policemen.

“The Paga guy asked me to delete the alert message. He also asked me to delete the receipt on the app but I refused.

Festus Olanrewaju Ojo