A magistrate’s court sitting in Wuse 2, Abuja, has granted bail to Aliyu Abba, a Kaduna State-based businessman persecuted by policemen who extorted N750,000 from him.
The court sat on Wednesday, two days after remanding Abba at the Keffi Correctional Centre. This was after the police arraigned him for failing to appear before them at the Force Intelligence Department (FID).
Abba had earlier petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP)’s office to probe M. M. Gadzama, the personal assistant to Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Benjamin Okolo.
He accused Gadzama of conspiring with two other policemen, Matthew Abu and Sunday Aboji, to extort N750,000 from him in June while they were investigating Sajith Madhu, an Indian national accused of failing to account for money he was supposed to use to procure goods for Nostromo Trading Nigeria Ltd.
READ MORE: DIG Okolo’s PA Begins Probe-Derailing Witchhunt, Gets Court to Jail Businessman He Stole N750,000 From
Madhu told the police Abba owed him, but the businessman said he did not owe the man. After the police collected N750,000 from Abba, they were caught on record demanding an additional N500,000.
Armed with this recording, Abba petitioned the IGP’s office and the FID on July 29 to investigate the officers.
The IGP’s office invited Abba on Monday, but Gadzama and his men intercepted the businessman and took him to court, where they claimed he had stopped appearing before them to aid their investigation.
Following Wednesday’s bail, the magistrate adjourned until September 9.
When FIJ called the FID Public Relations Office, they said Abba and his lawyer could come see them physically to follow up with his petition.
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