Some policemen attached to the Langbasa Police Station in the Ajah area of Lagos State extorted N750,000 from Sunday Ayelagun, a South African returnee, on Wednesday.
Ayelagun had just left Kingfisher Africa, a seaside restaurant in Lekki, and was heading home when he met the policemen at the Badore area around 2 am.
The operatives flagged him down and demanded to see the car’s documents. Ayelagun told them that he had all the papers available in the car, a Lexus RX 350 2017. However, the car belonged to his friend.
Hearing that the car belonged to a friend, the policemen accused Ayelagun of driving a stolen vehicle.
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A Zenith Bank transaction receipt of the main sum collected by the officer.
“They asked for my driver’s licence and I was trying to show them the temporary one I had on me because the permanent one was not ready yet. But they refused to listen to me,” Ayelagun said on Thursday.
“They collected the car key and my phone and accused me of driving a stolen vehicle. From there, they drove me to their station located after Harmony Estate gate.
“They checked through my phone and saw my bank app. I told them the account belonged to my company. But they would not listen. They started accusing me of being a scammer and ‘Yahoo Boy’, a cybercriminal.”
At the station, an officer identified as Saka forced him to expressly admit to being a fraudster.
“I objected to writing any statement. I maintained that I was not a scammer and they should allow me to go. But one officer named Saka said I must write a statement and he started dictating what I should write. He was shouting at me and threatening to slap and beat me if I did not comply,” Ayelagun said.
A Zenith Bank transaction receipt of part of the terminal operator’s service charge.
“Saka, a dark and slim person, later handed me to another officer who ensured that I wrote the statement. I was very afraid they might harm me because it was not dawn yet. I had to write the statement.
“The officers who stopped me at Badore were three. One said he was from Ekiti and the two others appeared to be from the North. Two of them were plump.”
After writing the statement under duress, the officers asked for a bribe of N5 million. One of the officers even demanded $2,000.
“They said I should bring N5 million. One even mentioned $2,000. I was begging them and pleaded that they collect N200,000 to free me. They repeatedly threatened to involve the EFCC. I would not have felt unsafe if it was during daytime,” he said.
“I was already frustrated. When they reduced it to N700,000, I agreed. They took me to a female PoS terminal operator in front of their station and directed me to transfer the money to her.
A Zenith Bank transaction receipt of the payment completing the terminal operator’s service charge.
“The operator told me to transfer the N700,000 to her Moniepoint wallet first and then send her own service charge of N50,000. The officers did not collect the money from her immediately. I just sent the money and we all left.
“I had told my pregnant wife that I was on my way home. When she did not see me on time, she started calling and texting me out of distress. She even thought I had been kidnapped. I left the station about 5 am”
FIJ informed Umar Ali-Jada, the divisional police officer (DPO) at the station, of the extortion. He said he was ready to investigate the matter but he requested that Ayelagun come and meet him at the station.
Right: Umar Ali-Jada, a chief superintendent of police (CSP) heading the station.
Ayelagun, who arrived in Nigeria on December 15 for the New Year holiday, left Nigeria on Thursday for Ghana from where he would fly to South Africa.
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Feranmi, Ayelagun’s brother who is available in Lagos, had volunteered to visit the station to see the DPO. Despite this, the DPO insisted that he needed to see Ayelagun in person to be able to ask him to identify the officers and respond to other questions.
FIJ told the DPO that Feranmi would coordinate a video call with Ayelagun at the station so that important questions could be answered and the concerned officers would be identified.
The DPO then said he was attending to some people and he would call FIJ back. “I am attending to someone. I will call you back,” he said.
Ali-Jada had not called back at press time.
The post Lagos Police Extort N750,000 From South Africa Returnee appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.