Police confirm arrest of officers who extorted N3 million from Nigerian man at gunpoint

The police have confirmed the arrest of the operatives who allegedly extorted N3 million from a Nigerian man in Bayelsa State, South-south Nigeria.

The Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a post on his X handle on Thursday.

The extortion

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how some police operatives allegedly extorted money from the man, Kelechi Isaac, on 26 August at Odi Axis of Bayelsa State.

Mr Isaac, who is based in Ghana, hails from Nguru Nworie, a community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state, Nigeria’s South-east.

The victim narrated that five police operatives flagged down his vehicle while he was driving back from a marriage ceremony with two of his friends.

He said the operatives subsequently forced him at gunpoint to transfer the N3 million to two separate bank accounts.

Officers arrested

On Monday, the police authorities announced that the operatives involved in the extortion of the man had been “identified.”

The police said the operatives are from Zone 16 Police Headquarters, the zonal police headquarters for Bayelsa and Rivers States in South-south Nigeria.

It was unclear, before now, if the operatives were arrested or not.

But the force spokesperson, Mr Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, confirmed in the X post on Thursday that the operatives have been arrested.

“The policemen involved in this case of extortion of N3 million have been arrested,” he said.

The spokesperson said authorities of Zone 16 Police Headquarters have been asked to produce the operatives at the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja.

“The Force Headquarters will continue to sanitise the system and ensure justice is done in all cases brought to its notice,” he wrote on the microblogging platform.

‘Money recovered, but hasn’t been returned to me’ — Victim

When contacted on Thursday morning, Mr Isaac, the victim, told PREMIUM TIMES that the N3 million has been recovered from the operatives, but has not yet been returned to him.

The victim said the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in-charge of Zone 16 Headquarters, Paul Omata, informed him of the development.

“They haven’t returned the money. I was in Bayelsa yesterday (Wednesday). They (AIG) said the money is there (in Bayelsa). But they will not return the money to me because there is no order from IGP to release the money to me,” he said.

“They said the policemen are being moved to Abuja, but they have not gotten to Abuja for the IGP to see them and give orders. So they said they are waiting for directives from the IGP (to return the money to me).”

The spokesperson of the Zone 16 Police Headquarters, Gunn Ewhoborwo, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking his comments.