Police Officers Risk Dismissal Over Extortion Of N204,000 From Student
Four Police Officers attached to Puff Adder Police Tactical Unit in Rivers State risk dismissal for allegedly extorting the sum of N204,000.00 from Kingsley Dike who is a 200- level student of Ignatius Ajuru University, our reporter has learnt.
A senior Police Officer conversant with the working of the organization told our reporter that the offence of extortion which the officers are being detained for is a serious offence on the Force that can lead to dismissal of persons found culpable in course of investigation.
The Rivers State Police Command last Monday arrested and detained four police officers attached to Puff Adder tactical Police unit at State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) who allegedly extorted N204,000 from Mr Dike.
Their arrest followed a directive by the Commissioner of Police, CP Eboka Friday shortly after members of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign led the student to the office of the Commissioner of Police, last Monday to lodge a formal complaint on the matter.
The student, Mr Dike in an interview with Journalists explained that he was on his way home last week Friday at about 10:30pm in a bolt when the Policemen stopped him and brought him down from the vehicle.
Mr Dike said after a search was conducted on him and his fellow student, the Police Officers still took them to their base in Aluu despite not finding anything incriminating on them.
Mr Dike disclosed that at the station, the Police officers ordered him to remove the code on his phone and went through the phone and found nothing.
The student said the Police officers threw them into cell last Friday night and brought them out on Saturday morning and allegedly threatened them to put in writing that they were internet fraudsters.
The student revealed that for fear of being killed they wrote that they were internet fraudsters after which the Police officers gave them an account number which they transferred N204,000 to before they were released on Saturday.
As at time of filing the report, the accused Police Officers are being detained at State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Port Harcourt while the money allegedly extorted by the Police Officers from the student has been recovered.