Policemen attached to Harmony Squad, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Kwara, harassed James Karunwi, a forex trader, and extorted N2 million from him.

Karunwi told FIJ he visited Ilorin, Kwara State capital, two weeks ago, and was going to a market with a friend on Thursday when a police patrol squad van showed up and officers ordered them to park their vehicle.

He said the officers ordered him and his friend to submit their phones. He identified some of them as Jude, Taiwo and Danjuma.

After searching through the phones, the police dragged them to the SCID headquarters, made them write a statement and then forced Karunwi to give them N2 million through a Point of Sale (POS) merchant in the area.

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Recounting his ordeal, Karunwi said, “Around 12:00 pm, policemen from CID Harmony Squad stopped us along the road and searched us. Nothing was found on me during the search. Officer Jude was hot-headed; he did not relate with us well. He insisted that we go to the station.

“On arriving at the station, the lady in the car was asking what the offence was and what we did wrong.

“We submitted our phones as they requested, and they found nothing but conversations about money between my friends and me.

“Then one officer took me on a bike to a POS merchant. This merchant brought out the money he had with him and went to sort for the rest of the money because he did not have up to that. They made me transfer N2 million to the POS just like that.

“The merchant collected N22,000 as charges, while we paid the motorcyclist N1,000, and the police collected the remaining sum.

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“Three IPOs counted the money in the statement room; officers Danjuma and Taiwo were among them.”

In a text message conversation with Okasanmi Ajayi, spokesman for the Kwara State Police Command, FIJ narrated Karunwi’s ordeal. Reacting, Ajayi asked that the victim visit him on Saturday to identify the officers and recover his money.

After FIJ’s conversation with Ajayi, two officers from the SCID called Karunwi in a bid to resolve the matter, but when FIJ asked if Ajayi authorised their approach, the spokesman said he had not asked anyone to contact the victim.

Ajayi has scheduled a meeting with Karunwi for Saturday afternoon.

Ojukwu is a reporter with FIJ in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.