Five policemen of the Intelligence Response Team attached to the office of the Inspector General of Police in Abuja have taken Ajagba Chibuzor, a student of Business Administration at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) to an unknown destination after seeing a message from bitcoin on his phone.
FIJ learnt that the policemen had arrived at Ajagba’s house in Ikorodu area of Lagos State at about 7am on Monday, on the account that he was harbouring guns but they did not find any before taking him to custody.
“At first, they handcuffed both of us and drove us away while searching our mobile phones for any incriminating evidence,” Damilare Ajibola, Ajagba’s housemate, told FIJ.
“When they didn’t see anything on my phone, they dropped me off at the LASPOTECH junction but they took my friend because they saw a bitcoin message on his phone.”
In February, the Central Bank of Nigeria had directed banks and other financial institutions to close any accounts dealing in cryptocurrency or facilitating payment for cryptocurrency exchange. A few days later, a senior official of the apex ban would later clarify that CBN did not ban Nigerians from buying, selling or holding cryptocurrencies but only protected the banking sector from the activities of cryptocurrencies.
The policemen accused Ajagba of transacting in bitcoin against the government’s order.
Vowing for the integrity of his friend, Ajibola mentioned that: “I can assure you that they have picked the wrong person. He is not an internet fraudster. He only does forex.”
Ajagba’s friends and family asked to know the station the policemen were taking Ajagba to but they refused to tell them.
Ajibola, who was released, had managed to capture the number plate of the private car with which the policemen took his friend away.
Both Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer, and Muyiwa Adejobi, the Lagos State Police Spokesman, didn’t answer their calls or reply to the text messages sent to them for comments on the issue.
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