Chidera Ojukwu, an Abuja resident, has narrated how policemen attached to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Area 3, arrested him on Tuesday and extorted N412,000 from him.
The police dragged him off the road, claimed his use of cryptocurrency applications was illegal and his surname suggested he might be funding the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB).
Ojukwu told FIJ he was driving through Lokogoma Junction towards Gudu Junction when the police stopped him for a search.
This exercise ended with the federal agents finding nothing incriminating. They asked for his papers.
When the policemen did not see a permit for his tinted windows, they said he had violated a law. Ojukwu said he told them he had until August 12 to get one, in line with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF)’s directive, but the officers were not interested in what he had to say.
“They became aggressive,” Ojukwu said. “One of them said I must follow them to their station. When I asked why, they said, ‘If you worry us, we go handcuff you for here, drive your car go station and nothing go happen.’ I even started pleading because I had a cybersecurity class I needed to attend, and I was running late.
“They insisted, so I obeyed. On our way, they stopped two other vehicles and dragged everybody to the station.
“When we got there, they did not talk about the tinted glasses permit again. They just seized my phone and car keys and began delaying me. After a while, they forced me to unlock my phone so they could go through it.”
Ojukwu said the police found applications for cryptocurrency trading and accused him of internet fraud. He said they also said he might be funding IPOB.
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“They told me to write a statement as they surfed through my phone,” he said.
“They opened all my bank apps, opened my emails, opened my First Bank account and saw over N540,000, then they came across my Bybit app. They opened it and started asking me why I had a crypto app, saying that crypto is banned in Nigeria and it’s illegal, and for all they knew, I could be using it to aid or fund terrorism. One of them said my name is even Ojukwu, and I could be funding IPOB. That really broke me.”
He said the policemen came to him one after the other to negotiate how much he could give them to secure his release. They already sized up his bank balance and began demanding N600,000.
“One of them said I had to pay N2 million before I would leave, or they would profile me and put me in a cell,” Ojukwu said.
He said he offered to give them N50,000, but they laughed and asked, “What will N50,000 do for us?”
Ojukwu added, “One took me to another room where they smoke. He told me they would profile me as they were about to close for the day, so it was either I pay up or they would put me in a cell where the prisoners there would welcome me with a slap.”
To secure his freedom, he agreed to give them N400,000. They directed him to a PoS merchant who collected N12,000 to facilitate the transaction.
FIJ called the Abuja Complaints Response Unit (CRU) on Wednesday and then the FCID Commander. Ojukwu then revisited the department where the Commander assured him of getting his money back on Thursday.
The post Police Drag Abuja Man to FCID, Threaten Him Before Stealing His N412,000 appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.