On Saturday morning, policemen in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, arrested and extorted N10,000 from Nsikan Inyang, a resident of the state.

The police put Inyang in their vehicle and drove him around the capital in cuffs but never arrived at a police station.

Alerting the public to his arrest, the man put out an X post calling out the police. He said they arrested him because he did not allow them to “check my phone”.

Hours after his post, he made a separate post saying he was traumatised as the police collected N10,000 from him and dropped him off at a location far from his residence.

“I’m really traumatised right now,” he said. “I just want to get home. After moving me around Uyo from morning [till now], they finally dropped me far from my place and settled for N10,000.”

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After this post, FIJ contacted the Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU) to look into the incident.

Recounting the experience in a chat with FIJ on Sunday, Inyang said, “It happened around 8 am. I was on my way to watch some of my guys play football when a minibus blocked me and asked that I stop.

“I stopped and asked what my offence was, and they said I should keep quiet. One of them started frisking me and wanted to put his hands in my pocket. I declined and asked him to let me do it myself.

“After that, he insisted I should unlock my phone for him to see, but I declined and said he had no right to check my phone. That’s when he said I was proving stubborn to an officer. After several arguments, he seized my phone and asked me to get on the bus.

“We moved around Uyo, and I kept asking him where he was taking me but he wouldn’t answer; instead, he would ask me to keep quiet and that I was proving stubborn to him when he asked for my phone.

“Much later in the day, he asked if I had any money to pay for him to release me other than taking me to the cell, and I told him I had no money on me and that I was jobless and broke, but he still insisted that I was lying and that he would show me shege since I don’t want to comply.

“Later, he gave me my phone to start calling people to send money. That was when I had the opportunity to snap and post the image. I later got a hold of my friend, who later met us along the road and offered to pay the money on my behalf before I was been dropped far away from my place.”

Inyang also told FIJ that the police refunded his money on Sunday morning.

He said the state command promised to investigate the matter. A CRU representative confirmed this position to FIJ on Sunday.