Police ‘identify’ officers who allegedly extorted N3 million from Nigerian man at gunpoint

The police have “identified” the operatives who allegedly extorted N3 million at gunpoint 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 Monday.

The extortion

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how some police operatives allegedly extorted money from the Nigeria 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 identified

The Force Spokesperson, Mr Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, said in the X post that the operatives who allegedly extorted the Nigerian man had been identified.

He said the authorities of the Police Force Headquarters and the Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, Francis Idu, have “taken up” the matter.

“We will continue to act on it tomorrow, Monday (today), for further investigation.

“The act is unacceptable and condemned. I personally engaged the commissioner of police, and we are on it. Justice will be served,” the force spokesperson assured.

However, Mr Muyiwa did not disclose the operatives’ identities or the police facility where they were serving.

He did not also specifically say the operatives were arrested.

‘They’re from Zone 16’

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday morning, the police spokesperson in Bayelsa State, Musa Mohammed, confirmed that the operatives had been “identified.”

“For us in the Police Command, we have been able to trace the operatives. And those operatives are from Zone 16 Police Headquarters, not the State Police Command,” Mr Mohammed, a superintendent of police, said.

Zone 16 Headquarters is the zonal police headquarters for Bayelsa and Rivers states in south-south Nigeria.

When asked if the police operatives were arrested or simply identified, Mr Mohammed said he was not in a position to provide answers.

He referred this reporter to the spokesperson of the Zone 16 Police Headquarters, Gunn Ewhoborwo.

But Mr Ewhoborwo, a chief superintendent of police, could not be reached for comments on Monday because calls to his phone line did not connect.