The Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the arrest and detention of one of its officers, identified simply as Samson M, over an alleged extortion involving a motorist in the Idimu area of Lagos State.
The development followed a viral video circulating online in which the driver claimed he was stopped by the officer despite having complete vehicle documents.
Narrating his ordeal in a video shared by @Olumbadikwe on TikTok and seen by NGGOSSIPS Metro on Wednesday, the motorist said he was flagged down opposite the Area M Command in Idimu and asked to present his documents, which he did.
The victim said the officers held him for about 30 minutes before raising an issue about the colour of his vehicle.
“I was stopped by a police officer yesterday at Idimu, directly opposite Area M Command. There is a police station there. He asked for my documents, and I gave them to him. After checking them, he called another officer to check again, and they kept going back and forth,” he said.
“After about 30 minutes, he called me and asked what the colour of my car was. He said the document stated ‘ash’ but claimed my car was green. I told him all my documents were complete, and he should not create an issue out of nothing,” he added.
According to him, the situation escalated when the officer allegedly threatened to arrest and detain him.
He further alleged that the officer initially demanded N30,000 but later reduced it to N10,000 after he pleaded.
“He started saying he would arrest me and delay me, that I would go inside the office. At the end of the day, he began negotiating,” the motorist said.
“He charged me N30,000, which I told him I didn’t have. I said I couldn’t pay. He insisted he would arrest me. I pleaded with him, and he said the least he could take was N10,000.
“That N10,000 was the only money I had been trying to make that day. I even told my boy to withdraw the money before he released me,” he added.
Reacting in a statement posted on its official X handle on Wednesday, the police said the officer had been identified and taken into custody.
“The officer seen in the viral video as posted by #epiccycl has been identified, arrested, detained and queried. The #LagosPoliceNG will provide the full outcome of the investigation as soon as possible,” the statement read.
The force added that the outcome of the ongoing disciplinary process would be made public after the conclusion of internal reviews.
Cases of extortion involving police officers have remained a recurring concern in Nigeria, where motorists and commuters frequently allege harassment at checkpoints.
The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Yemi Oyeniyi, recently ordered the summary trial of two police officers captured on video allegedly extorting a member of the public inside the C Division police station in Asaba, the state capital.
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