Lagos Police Detain Officers For Alleged N150,000 Extortion

The Lagos State Police Command has detained three officers for allegedly extorting N150,000 from a content creator in the Isheri area of the state.

The command’s spokesperson, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development in a post on his X handle on Monday.

The victim, a 21-year-old X user (@netrovertHQ), had earlier recounted his ordeal, alleging that the officers extorted him while he and a colleague were travelling from Berger to Ikeja in a Bolt ride.

Narrating his experience, the X user said, “Police is your friend? No, not mine. This morning I was on my way back to Ife, Osun. I had travelled down for the Superteam mixer to reconnect with my ex-coworkers and friends.”

He explained that he had checked out of his hotel at Ikeja by 11 a.m. and ordered a Bolt ride to Berger.

His coworker, identified as @GbReigns, who was heading to the east, joined him on the ride.

However, their trip was disrupted when three armed police officers stopped them near Under Bridge.

“Now, I know some of you might say, ‘Dress how you want to be addressed.’ If that’s you—I was wearing a Senator! GB wore a plain tee and jeans. There was nothing about our dressing that made us look suspicious,” he said.

Despite this, the officers allegedly searched their bags and phones but found nothing incriminating.

Instead of letting them go, Netrovert said, “They sandwiched us into the back of the Bolt, two officers sitting beside us and one in the front passenger seat. Straight to the station.”

At the station, one of the officers allegedly continued the search and was fixated on his Binance app, which the officer described as “incriminating evidence.”

“Then they stopped searching and led us to an unfinished building behind the station. Not like we even entered the main station, to begin with. Everything happened in a set of rooms behind their main office.

“In the unfinished building, the officer said, ‘Give us N2M ($1,298), and you can go,’” he alleged.

He tried negotiating the amount down to N20,000, but the officers refused.

“I initially negotiated N100,000, but when they checked my phone and saw money in my Binance and TrustWallet apps, they demanded more,” he wrote.

Eventually, the X user said he was forced to withdraw and hand over N150,000 in cash before he and his colleague were released after two hours in detention.

“They made me walk across the street to withdraw the cash and hand it over to them.

“What was supposed to be a 20-minute ride turned into a two-hour extortion session, ending with a free ride to the station for the officers, N150,000 as their ‘stipend,’ and even a ‘gate fee’ to leave,” he wrote.

Following public outcry over the allegations, Hundeyin confirmed that the officers had been identified and detained.

“The three police officers, attached to the Isheri Division, have been identified and taken into custody by their Divisional Police Officer (DPO).

“The money has also been recovered, and efforts are being made to reach the complainant,” he stated.

He further disclosed that the command had ordered the immediate transfer of the officers to the Provost Office at the Lagos Command Headquarters for disciplinary action.

Lagos Police Detain Officers For Alleged N150,000 Extortion is first published on The Whistler Newspaper