Four police officers attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command are facing disciplinary action after they were allegedly caught operating an illegal checkpoint where they extorted money from motorists, including the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN).
Ironically, the officers allegedly demanded and collected ₦53,000 from the nation’s anti-corruption chief without realising his identity.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, who disclosed the incident on Monday, said the officers have been arrested and detained pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.
According to Sanusi, investigations showed that the officers had abandoned their officially assigned duty posts and converged around the Banex axis in Wuse, Abuja, where they mounted an unauthorised stop-and-search operation to extort motorists.
During one of the operations, the officers allegedly intercepted Dr. Aliyu and forced him to withdraw ₦53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) terminal, in addition to paying the transaction fees, before the money was allegedly shared among the officers.
The police commissioner described the incident as an embarrassing breach of discipline and a criminal act that undermines the integrity of the Nigeria Police Force.
He said the command immediately commenced an investigation after receiving information about the incident, declaring the officers wanted. The arrest of the alleged ringleader, he added, eventually led detectives to the other three suspects.
Sanusi assured the public that no officer found culpable would be shielded from punishment, stressing that dismissal from service remains one of the sanctions available under police regulations.
He used the opportunity to restate the Inspector-General of Police’s directive prohibiting officers from conducting indiscriminate searches of citizens’ mobile phones during patrols or stop-and-search operations.
The commissioner urged residents of the FCT to reject unlawful demands by police personnel, especially requests to inspect mobile phones without legal justification, and to report such incidents through official police complaint channels.
He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to sanitising the police force by identifying and sanctioning officers involved in extortion, harassment and other forms of misconduct.
