Police summon officers over N1m extortion of corps members

Four of the Lagos State Police Command's officers have been summoned to answer for their alleged role in the N1 million extortion of certain National Youth Service Corps members.

Olúyẅmí Fásípè, a person tweeting under the handle #YemieFash, disclosed the incident in a late-Thursday post on Twitter.

According to Fásípè, the officers had threatened the corps members, and they were then brought to the Area C Police Command's Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu House, where they were "robbed."

He continued by saying that the extortion was purportedly caused by one of the corps members' failure to provide a hard copy of his driver's license.

In a video, the driver is shown giving some paperwork related to the car to an officer, who then enquires, "What about your driver's license?" The driver responded, “I’m renewing it.”
The driver was unable to produce the renewal documents in hard copy when the officer asked for them. An altercation started when a man in ordinary clothing who was not immediately recognised as a police officer was observed taking off the license plate from the car.

After leading the corps members to the police station, the accompanying officer gave them instructions not to use their phones and threatened to have them write statements at the station if they did.

One of the officers told the corps members that wearing the NYSC cap alone without donning the entire uniform was considered "impersonation."

"Dear #BenHundeyin, your officers today in Surulere extorted one million naira from three corps members," said Fásípè in a tweet. They were threatened with firearms, kidnapped, and taken to the Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu House, Area C Police Command of the #LagosPoliceNG, where they were robbed. Their offence was not having a physical copy of a driver’s licence. This is evil!
The victims claim that their employer, the mufti officer, is the one who took possession of the money.

Here are the transaction receipts and an audio message from one of the victims outlining how the rogue officers coerced money out of the three corps members, Ben, #BenHundeyin.

The state command spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, responded by tweeting on Friday under the handle #BenHundeyin, saying, "The men have been summoned, and their trial has commenced." To provide a statement in the current trial, we implore the complainants to come to the state headquarters and attend the Complaint Response Unit.

Internet users have strongly condemned the police officers' actions.