A Lagos-based mother of four identified as Mrs Alabi has appealed to the Commissioner of Police, Ishola Olanrewaju, to help retrieve the sum of N50,000 allegedly extorted from her family by operatives in the Elere Division in the Agege area of the state.
Alabi made the appeal to the CP through PUNCH Metro on Sunday while narrating the circumstances behind the alleged extortion.
According to Alabi, her family had yet to recover from the debt incurred after having to take a loan of N50,000 to bail his son, Quayum Alabi, who was detained by the Elere Police Division in the Agege area of the state.
She revealed that her son was on his way back from work when he was accosted by police officers who claimed he was arrested for late-night crawling sometime in September.
She added that her son was searched by the police but found with nothing incriminating about him yet they proceeded to detain him. She alleged that her son was kept in custody for several hours before allowing him to communicate with the family.
She said, “The police searched my son and they did not find anything incriminating on him. They took him to their station and did not allow him to communicate with anyone. It was the second day that he had to beg one of the officers to allow him to call his dad.
“When my husband visited the station, he was asked to pay N100,000 as bail fee but several appeals to make them to realise that we are a poor family proved abortive.
She added that her son was searched by the police but found with nothing incriminating about him yet they proceeded to detain him. She alleged that her son was kept in custody for several hours before allowing him to communicate with the family.
She said, “The police searched my son and they did not find anything incriminating on him. They took him to their station and did not allow him to communicate with anyone. It was the second day that he had to beg one of the officers to allow him to call his dad.
“When my husband visited the station, he was asked to pay N100,000 as bail fee but several appeals to make them to realise that we are a poor family proved abortive.
“After several back and forth, they asked us to pay N50,000 which I had to borrow from a contribution group I belonged to so that I could secure the release of my son.”
The mother of four added that the money that she had been struggling to pay back through her petty trading had subjected her family to debt and hardship.
She continued, “Though the N50,000 may seem small to some, to me and my family, it is a life-saver whose debt has brought us to hardship.”
She however appealed to the Lagos Commissioner of Police to intervene and ensure that her plight is alleviated.
“I will be grateful if the Commissioner of Police can help me get my money back because I am still paying the debt back to the lender,” Alabi said.
When contacted for his reaction, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, did not respond to calls and messages.
He also did not respond to a WhatsApp message after more than 48 hours of reading the message.
PUNCH Metro reported on Friday that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, condemned the spate of extortion allegations against some officers of the force in various areas across the country.
He specifically referenced a recent case involving officers from the Zone 16 Zonal Headquarters in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State.
Some officers identified as ASP Emmanuel Ubong, Inspector Nse Okon, Inspector Adiewere Collins, and Inspector Kuromare Marine were accused of extorting the sum of N10 million from some youths.
The Force Spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, had in a statement said the money was recovered through the efforts of the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 16 and that the officers had been detained and subjected to an orderly room trial.
(PUNCH)