Four police officers attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command are in detention after they were allegedly caught extorting ₦53,000 from the 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.
The incident, which was disclosed by the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, occurred around the Banex area of Wuse, where the officers were said to have abandoned their official assignments and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint.
According to the police commissioner, the officers allegedly compelled the ICPC chairman to obtain cash through a Point of Sale (POS) operator, pay the withdrawal charges and hand over ₦53,000, unaware of who he was.
“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. In clear terms, they extorted the Chairman of the ICPC. They extorted him of ₦53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” CP Sanusi said.
Sanusi described the suspects as a criminal gang operating outside the law, alleging that they left their respective divisions, converged at the Banex axis and carried out the illegal operation before disappearing from the area.
He said the command launched a manhunt for the officers, first apprehending the group’s leader. Information obtained during interrogation, he added, led investigators to the arrest of the remaining suspects.
“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,” the commissioner stated.
The FCT Police Command said the officers remain in custody and will face disciplinary action in accordance with the Nigeria Police Force’s regulations, stressing that misconduct and abuse of office will not be tolerated.
