- An Asian man has revealed how the Nigeria Police Complaint Response Unit intervened to recover ₦150,000 he was allegedly extorted by police officers in Ikeja, Lagos, praising the unit and divisional leadership for their swift response and professionalism.
- He claimed that despite his explanations, the officers insisted on collecting money, forcing him to transfer ₦150,000 to secure his release.
An Asian man has narrated how the Nigeria Police Force Complaint Response Unit (CRU) helped him recover ₦150,000 he was allegedly extorted by police officers in Lagos.
In a video circulating online on Saturday, the man said the incident occurred on Friday night in the Ikeja area of Lagos State while he and a friend were heading to a bar to watch a football match.
According to him, their Uber was stopped by police officers on a bridge in Ikeja, where he was asked to present his passport and visa.
“For this invitation, actually, I want to express my deep appreciation for the CSP, Mr Inadu. I want to share some of my experience and what happened on Friday night,” he said.
“At that time, I was with my friend. We were taking an Uber and going to see a football match because, you know, the Nigeria versus Morocco match… So we chose to go to a bar to see the match, but unfortunately, when we were passing a bridge in Ikeja, Lagos, the officer actually stopped my Uber and wanted to check my passport and my visa.”
He explained that he did not have his passport with him but contacted his staff to send pictures of the documents to his phone to confirm his legal status.
“But actually, at that time, I did not take a passport with me. So I had to let my staff go to my bedroom and take the pictures for the police to see,” he said.
However, he alleged that the situation escalated, with officers becoming hostile and threatening him.
“But I don’t know, maybe the police, they are not very friendly to me… he was just very rude, actually, just grabbed me outside the car and used their weapons to threaten me, to ask me for the money,” he said.
“So at that time, I was very scared… because for such a long time I came to Nigeria, I did not see these things happen to me because I have a legal visa. I do my temporary working passport here.”
He claimed that despite his explanations, the officers insisted on collecting money, forcing him to transfer ₦150,000 to secure his release.
“So at that time I was trying to communicate with him, but he did not listen, so finally I had to transfer 150,000 naira to these officers to keep myself safe,” he said.
After receiving the passport images confirming his legal residency, he decided to report the incident. He said he searched online and contacted the Police Complaint Response Unit via email, attaching evidence such as transfer records and visa documents.
“I wrote an email briefly explaining what we experienced. Within two or three hours, the staff of the CRU called me back and asked me to send details, transfer records and my visa documents so they could clearly understand what happened,” he stated.
He added that an officer of the CRU, Anthony Chukuma, worked throughout the weekend to follow up on the case.
“On Sunday, throughout the whole weekend when everyone was resting, an officer from the CRU, Anthony Chukuma, did not rest at all. He spent the entire day calling the DPO of Ikeja Division and helping to gather evidence. He was always trying to calm me down,” he said.
He also praised the Divisional Police Officer of Ikeja Division, Akin Umi, for promptly launching an internal investigation.
“I also want to say a big thank you to the DPO of Ikeja Division, Akin Umi, who showed great integrity and immediately started an internal investigation to identify the officers involved,” he added.
According to him, the intervention yielded results, as the ₦150,000 was refunded to his account on Monday morning.
“With the cooperation of the CRU and the Ikeja Division, my money was recovered. ₦150,000 was paid back into my bank account,” he said.
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