The Lagos State Police Command has returned N452,000 its officers stole from Righteous Onobrakpeya, a prospective corps member, on April 26.
On Friday afternoon, Onobrakpeya visited the Command after the Lagos Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU) invited him.
The invitation followed public outcry over how men of the Ogudu Police Division extorted the sum off him when he arrived in Lagos from Ogun State for health reasons.
Onobrakpeya told the journalists, four days after the incident, that the police illegally searched his phone, opened his blockchain app, saw $1,000 in his account and demanded half of it. He eventually spent hours in their custody and was forced to part with N452,000.
When he recovered his money, the police told him they had identified the erring officers and initiated disciplinary actions against them.
”They explained that the men have been identified and punished,” one of the victim’s friends told FIJ.
“They will face an orderly trial. The money was waiting for us. They refunded the money. Thank you so much for your help.”
BACKGROUND
On April 26, Onobrakpeya got a taxi in the Ketu area of Lagos. After travelling for no more than five minutes, policemen stopped the vehicle.
It was past noon. The policemen dismissed the driver and took Onobrakpeya into custody after searching his phone and discovering he had a blockchain wallet with $1,000 in it.
“They asked me to come down, which I did with my phone in hand,” he said.
“I told them I am a corps member returning from camp because I exited based on health issues. So they requested my ID card, and I gave it to them to see. They also searched my bags.”
Onobrakpeya said a policeman wittingly asked him to hand over his phone so he would be able to open his bag. When the policeman got hold of his phone, he seized it and, “said I should follow him to the car. They didn’t even check the bag, which made him offer to hold my phone in the first place”.
“They took me to their van and said I should unlock my phone. I was wondering; without hesitation, I did, and they started checking through. They saw my blockchain wallet, where I had $1,000. They said they needed $500, or we would go to their station. When I refused, they took me to the Ogudu Police Station.
“For hours, they kept negotiating until they agreed on $300 at the rate of N1,500 per dollar, which is N450,000. After they monitored me trading it, they asked me to start writing statements. They also made me sign a statement saying they didn’t take any money from me.”
The police led Onobrakpeya to a PoS merchant at about 5 pm to withdraw the cash.
