Police begin trial of officers for allegedly extorting N1 million from corps members

The Lagos State Police Command has commenced the trial of its personnel who allegedly extorted N1 million from some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

The Command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in an X post on Friday.

A viral X post on Thursday showed that the officers allegedly extorted N1 million from three unidentified corps members for failing to produce a physical copy of a driver’s licence, in Surulere, Lagos

“Dear @BenHundeyin, Your officers today in Surulere extorted 1 million naira from 3 corps members. 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 offense was the absence of a physical copy of a driver’s license. This is evil! Cc,” the post said.

The sender, @Yemiefash, also posted receipts of the money collected by the police officers and identified the particular officer who was the leader of the team.

The X user tagged the police spokesperson and others.

Trial begins

Responding to the post, Mr Hundeyin said the officers have been summoned for questioning and their trial has also begun at the police headquarters in Lagos.

He requested the complainants to come to the police headquarters in Lagos to testify at the trial.

“The men have been summoned, and their trial has commenced. We urge the complainants to visit the Complaint Response Unit at the state headquarters to testify at the ongoing trial,” he said.

The spokesperson did not name the affected officers.

The trial being conducted by the police will determine the culpability of the officers and could lead to their dismissal. However, the police could decide to charge them in court even after the police trial.