Ogunlaja, a student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), has narrated how police officers at Berger in Lagos State cornered him and extorted N50,000 from him.

The student, who wants only his last name in print, told FIJ he paid the police officers only because they kept telling him they would level false accusations against him if they took him to their station.

He said he borrowed N20,000 from PalmPay and another N20,000 from some of his friends to add to what he already had before the police let him go.

“I paid because I had no one in Lagos. My family does not live here. And I thought things would get worse for me if I insisted that I had nothing incriminating on me,” Ogunlaja told FIJ.

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Ogunlaja said that once he got to a motor park in Berger on February 7, some police officers approached him and conducted a search. According to him, the officers said they were conducting a stop-and-search operation and needed to search him.

“Because I had nothing incriminating on me, I was calm enough to let them search me. So, I gave them my bag while one of them searched my pocket. There were two of us — one other guy and me. They forced us into their bus when they found nothing.

“I was still calm, but they soon started making a lot of threats about what they would allege we had done if we got to their station without giving them money. I had no one in Lagos, as I am not based here, so I gave them my phone and school identity card out of fear. But even after they found nothing, they still insisted on taking me to the station.

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“That day, I had N15,000 in my account, which they saw on my PalmPay app. I had to borrow money from PalmPay to pay them. They said the other guy and I must pay N50,000. I borrowed and called some friends, who lent me another N20,000, before they finally let me go. The account I sent the money to belonged to one of the officers, who confirmed receipt on the spot.”

FIJ called Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), but he did not answer the phone call. At press time, he had not responded to the text sent to his line.