4 police officers arrested for ‘extorting N53,000 from ICPC Chairman

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command has arrested four police officers for allegedly extorting N53,000 from Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN) during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

A press statement by the ICPC Spokesperson, John Odey, Monday in Abuja, disclosed that the Commission’s FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Sanusi, shared this while briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday.

He noted that the police boss said the officers abandoned their assigned duty posts, mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex area in Wuse, and extorted the ICPC chairman.

CP Danusi said Aliyu was compelled to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale (PoS) operator, paid the transaction charges, with the officers later sharing the money among themselves.

“I must say here too that we have about four policemen in custody as we speak who successfully extorted somebody of high importance, unknown to them that this person is a highly placed person in society,” CP Sanusi said.

“In clear terms, they extorted the chairman of the ICPC. They extorted him of N53,000. They took him to a PoS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves.

“They are a gang of criminals who left various divisions, clustered together, moved to Wuse Banex and created a checkpoint where they perpetrated this act before fleeing,” the Police boss said.

He said the command declared the officers wanted before arresting the alleged gang leader, whose confession led investigators to the other members of the syndicate.

“We got all of them. We are going to make sure they are severely punished. Those that are going to be dismissed will definitely be dismissed,” he added.

CP Sanusi also said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, has prohibited indiscriminate search of citizens’ mobile phones by officers on patrol.

He urged residents to reject any demand by officers to go through their phones during commute, and to report such incidents through the police emergency lines.

“We will still enforce the IG’s directive. Some of them are on the task because they are criminally minded. They want to perpetrate such acts.

“If we get them, they will face disciplinary actions and will be made to face the consequences,” the CP added.