Nwanne Ogbonnaya, an Ogun-based lawyer, has exposed the ploy of some policemen attached to Edo State Police Command to extort travellers along Ugbogui road and sometimes set them up with cocaine.

Ogbonnaya, who was a victim of police extortion, revealed that the policemen make flimsy demands from some motorists and frame others for a crime.

Sharing his experience of an event that occurred on October 6 at the police checkpoint in Ugbogui, he said, “At the particular checkpoint that I would rather name ‘an extortion point’, the policemen stopped me and demanded to see my car documents, which I offered them.

“At first, they made an issue out of the road worthiness certificate I didn’t have. After I stood my ground as a lawyer and educated them that private car owners do not need the certificate to travel, they quickly found another issue.

“They said it was illegal for me to have a different date on the document for my tinted glasses from other documents.

“I was ready to prove them wrong. So, when they demanded N200,000 from me, I agreed to follow them to the police station.”

However, Ogbonnaya added that his wife decided to pay one of the police officers N5,000 on request in order to earn their freedom after a two-hour delay.

“Without my knowledge, she paid the money and the officer allowed me to go,” he noted. “One astonishing thing is that the policemen on that expressway are notorious for that. They just do everything possible to extort people, including framing.

“A family friend who joined us on that trip testified about how some other policemen on the road planted cocaine in a public vehicle and forced all passengers to pay N125,000 in January.”

Speaking with FIJ, Ikechukwu Francis, Ogbonnaya’s family friend, said he could identify the policeman who framed one of his co-passengers on January 5 by putting cocaine in his bag.

“That day, we were equally stopped just like the lawyer was,” he began. “I suspected something fishy was going to happen because I saw how these policemen were waving down many cars. I advised the driver not to get out of the car, but the police ordered all of us out for a search.

“After I came out of the vehicle, I saw how that policeman sneaked the white powder, that was later regarded as cocaine, from his pocket into the bag of the person that sat behind the driver.

“When the police later accused the passenger of taking the addictive drug, I confronted him and others about how he was trying to set the passenger up.”

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According to Francis, the five of them in the public vehicle were forced to pay N125,000 when they were taken to the police station.

“Please, help us on that road. We travel regularly. What they are doing on that road is getting unbearable,” said Francis.

In response to FIJ’s text message for comments over allegations of extortion, Kontongs Bello, the spokesman for the Edo State Police Command, said:

“Please, let them come and identify them. The command won’t be silent about it. We will ensure that they are disciplined. And the money, if true, will be fully refunded to the people.”

In early September, FIJ reported how a Lagos policeman hid a seized ID card in another motorist’s wallet in order to extort him on the basis of impersonation and forgery.

Though the federal government proscribed the rogue Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the unit of the Nigeria Police Force most notorious for brutality, extortion and harassment, in October 2020, officers of other police units have taken the baton.