The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has sacked four policemen attached to Ijebu-Ode Area Command in Ogun State over extortion.
The former officers were found guilty of extorting N50,000 from a man they arrested on trumped up charge.
Affected by the dismissal order are Inspector Mufutau Olaosun, Sgt. Adebayo Temitope, Cpl. Bakare Taiwo and Cpl. Adesoye Ayokunlehin.
According to a statement by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Sogunle, who heads the Police Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit, the men were dismissed after they were found guilty in an Orderly Room trial at the Area Command Headquarters, Ijebu-Ode.
They were charged with discreditable Conduct and Corrupt Practice under the First Schedule of Police Act and Regulations Cap. P19. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The four men, on 7 June, without any grounds, arrested a man who was just leaving a bank and took him to the Igbeba Station, where they labelled him a “yahoo boy” and made him to frog jump and write a self-incriminating statement, that he was an internet fraudster.
After the maltreatment, they released the man and also impounded the N50,000 he had gone to collect on behalf of his boss, saying it was payment for his bail. The man lodged a complaint with the Police Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit.
The police authorities found the complaint genuine and were mortified that policemen could take money for bail, despite the #BailisFree campaign by the police themselves.
“Their action is contrary to the directives of the Inspector-General of Police and unacceptable”, said Sogunle.
The money had since been recovered from the four policemen and given back to the man.
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