The Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory, CP Ahmed Sanusi, has revealed that four officers attached to the command are in detention for allegedly extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sanusi disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists at the FCT Police Command headquarters in Abuja.
He said the incident happened during an illegal stop-and-search operation in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, the officers left their assigned duty posts and set up an unauthorized checkpoint near the Banex area in Wuse. They stopped the ICPC chairman and allegedly collected money from him without knowing who he was.
Sanusi described the officers as “thieves,” saying they took the ICPC chairman to a Point of Sale (POS) operator, where he withdrew the money from his account.
He added that the officers later shared the money among themselves before the ICPC chairman reported the incident to the command.
“I must say here that we currently have four policemen in custody who extorted a highly placed individual without knowing who he was. In clear terms, they extorted the Chairman of the ICPC.
“They collected N53,000 from him. They took him to a POS operator, where he withdrew the money, paid the transaction charges, and they shared the money among themselves,” Sanusi said.
The police commissioner advised FCT residents to immediately contact the command’s emergency numbers whenever they experience similar cases of police misconduct.
He also promised that the command under his leadership would identify and deal with criminal elements within the force.
Sanusi said the four officers would face punishment after the investigation is completed, adding that “those who need to be sacked will be sacked”.
