Police officers at the Idimu Police Station on Monday arrested Kunle Jinadu, a Lagos resident, demanding that his parents pay N120,000 for allegedly damaging their phones.

The policemen also demanded the sum of N50,000 as bail from Jinadu’s parents, threatening to beat and lock him up.

Kehinde Ogidan and Sylvester A.K., the officers who arrested Jinadu, claimed that his resistance to arrest caused damage to their phones. The officers also claimed repairing the phones would cost N70,000.

The officers had stopped Jinadu on the road, demanding to know why his vehicle number plate had a transparent plastic.

The officers seized his licence and vehicle registration papers, and asked him to follow them to the station but he refused.

When his resistance proved futile, the police dragged him to their station while the vehicle was driven away from the scene by Jinadu’s relative.

“They said we should pay them N150,000, then they later told us that the phones could not be bought in the market, so we should pay them the money for them to repair it themselves,” Nurudeen Jinadu, the victim’s father, told FIJ.

“I’m looking for money now as I speak to you, they want to lock him up, they said they will take him to court for breaking their phones.”

Jinadu’s father noted that he did not see any evidence that the officers’ phones were truly damaged.

Adekunle Ajisebutu, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, did not respond to several calls placed to him. A text message sent to him by this reporter was also ignored.