Police officers in the Umuguma police division of the Imo State Police Command seized furniture maker Bennett Adimba’s phone in June and said they would return it when he completes a customer’s job. Now, they have told him to bring N70,000 to get it back.

Adimba told FIJ on Thursday that he had failed to complete a furniture job for a customer. The customer then reported to Umuguma police, where his phone was seized.

The nature of business between Adimba and Ugochukwu Ofoha, his customer, was that he made the furniture while Ofoha sold them to his customers.

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Ofoha essentially trades in finished furniture materials. When he gets those jobs, he gives them to Adimba, who in turn does them and gets paid after completion.

Adimba told FIJ that he had an agreement to complete Ofoha’s job at a certain time, but due to a backlog of work, he was unable to deliver the job at the time they contracted. Ofoha then decided to arrest him with the Umuguma police.

“When arrested, I was mandated to go and complete the said job in the shop, but the woman Police officer took in my phone and I left to complete the job on the belief that I would get my phone back when done,” Adimba said.

“I finished the job in days, I went back to the police station to get my phone back, but then and there, the female police officer threatened me. She said except I pay, I can’t get my phone back.

“When I finished the work, I went there to collect my phone. They then started asking me for money, threatening me.

“They told me to bring N70,000 but because I don’t have any business with them, I didn’t even bother bargaining.”

Adimba, who said he had to borrow a phone to report to FIJ, managed to provide the policewoman’s phone number.

When FIJ called the policewoman on Friday, she said Adimba was still yet to complete Ofoha’s job.

“He promised to finish the job in one week, but till now, he has not finished the job. We have not even seen him,” she said.

“Even the complainant (Ofoha) has been coming to complain that he (Adimba) has not done the job even when he has paid him over N300,000 for the job. We told him to drop his phone and come back in a few days. Since then, nobody has seen.”

FIJ called Ofoha and he said Adimba had completed his job in June, but he (Ofoha) has been too busy to go with Adimba to the station since then.

“He (Adimba) told me to go and collect the phone but I have not had the chance to go. When he comes, I used to be very busy,” Ofoha said.

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When FIJ asked for the policewoman’s name, she asked if she needed to reveal it to FIJ. “My name is Chioma,” she later said.

However, when FIJ checked her phone number with the Truecaller app, it bore ‘Edith Esiaba’.

FIJ called Henry Okoye, the Imo police public relations officer but he said he was busy and told FIJ to call him later. He did not answer subsequent calls at press time.