In response to claims that members of the Onikan Police Station Tactical Squad tried to extort N3 million from a resident at gunpoint, the Lagos State Police Command has opened an official inquiry.
The complainant, who goes by Boluwatife (@Tife_badass) on X (previously Twitter), claimed that the incident happened at around one in the morning on Thursday while he and a companion were traveling from Lekki to Victoria Island for an artist’s gig.
Boluwatife wrote a thorough social media account of how he was stopped by roughly five armed police officers close to the Lekki–Ikoyi Link Bridge roundabout.
He claimed that the officers accused him of killing police officers in Lekki, primed their weapons, and dragged him out of the driver’s seat.
He said that while policemen drove his car apart, he and his friend were handcuffed, put in a police Hilux van, and driven to the station.
Read Also: Fight against corruption ‘selective’ – Northerners react to Tambuwal’s arrest by EFCC
He claimed that in order to be prepared for custody, authorities at the Onikan Police Station told him to take off his shirt, shoes, and socks. According to reports, they looked through his paperwork and automobile but couldn’t find anything that would implicate him.
“They requested N3 million two hours later,” he wrote. “They lowered it to N500,000 following further persuasion after I declined. I promptly called my people for assistance once they gave me back my phone. Thank goodness I was saved.
In addition, Boluwatife claimed that when he disobeyed, the officers threatened to shoot him several times and to paint him as a cultist and fraudster.
“What about the average person who has no one? I’m not shaken. They told me all kinds of things. It’s crazy when ten police officers threaten you without cause,” he wrote.
The state’s police command has ordered a thorough inquiry, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer CSP Benjamin Hundeyin said on X in response to the accusations on Thursday.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, has been instructed to look into the complaint by Commissioner of Police CP Olohundare Jimoh, who has called all of the officers to the Command Headquarters in Ikeja. The public will be informed of the results,” Hundeyin stated.
