Police officers at Akodo Police Station in the Eleko area of Lagos have detained Lekan Olaoye, a car owner who rescued an accident victim, for refusing to pay a bribe of N50,000.

Olaoye has been in police custody since Sunday evening when a commercial bike rider ran into his car on Epe expressway. The bike rider, it was gathered, ran away while his passenger was rushed to a nearby hospital.

While the passenger was being treated at the hospital, his friends reported the accident to the police and Olaoye was arrested.

On Monday afternoon, under the supervision of Titus Akila, a police officer, Olaoye’s family paid the friends of the victim N100,000 to take care of his hospital bill.

“After we paid the money, the officer-in-charge handed us over to another officer to sort out our brother’s bail,” said Aderemi Jubril, Olaoye’s brother.

“The officer suddenly changed the whole process and asked us to pay another N50,000 for bail. “Akila had told us if we were able to iron out the issue with the victim’s people, the Police would free our brother. That was what he told us. But now they want to extort us.”

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CORRUPT POLICEMEN

When FIJ called Akila on Monday, he denied knowledge of any officer demanding a bribe. He assured our reporter the bail would be sorted out. 

Less than 30 minutes after the call, FIJ gathered, the illegal detainee was taken out of the cell. The police officers refunded the N50,000 they had collected from his family members and asked them to wait for the Divisional Police Officer (DPO)’s return.

READ ALSO: REPORTER’S DIARY: From Pursuing a Story to being the Story: How I Ended in Police Detention

At about 7:30 pm, Thomas Orire, the DPO, told FIJ he was on his way to the station. He also said he was unaware his officers attempted to take a bribe from Olaoye’s family members.

However, FIJ learnt that on Tuesday, the DPO insisted on getting the bribe or Olaoye would be charged to court.

“They said we should pay N50,000 or Olaoye would be charged to court tomorrow,” a source said. “The DPO said you were speaking grammar to him over the phone yesterday but he believed in action and not words.”

Olaoye has remained in detention since his arrest on Sunday evening.