Published 29th Sep, 2022

By Daniel Ojukwu

Toheeb Azeez, a Lagos State resident, has accused policemen attached to the Dolphin estate police station of extorting N5,000 from him on Wednesday evening.

Azeez told FIJ that he was on a mini bus, popularly referred to as Korope, to convey some wares from the estate to Victoria Island when the policemen stopped him sometime past 6 pm.

He said the officers asked to see the vehicle’s documents and discovered it had expired a month earlier.

According to him, the driver provided proof of a pending renewal, but the officers asked them to pay N20,000 or be remanded in custody before facing a magistrate on Thursday.

“We told them we were in a hurry, and that the driver had applied for renewal but it was pending, yet they said we should bring N20,000. We told them we did not have any money, but they then asked for N15,000,” Azeez explained.

“After a while, they asked us to drive to their station, and said they would lock us up and take us to court the following morning. I was running late, so I started begging them. Later, I began recording the officers’ voices. They noticed, and then changed their stance to say they weren’t demanding money from us.”

In the audio clip provided to FIJ, the officers, communicating in Pidgin English, were heard saying, “I don tell you wetin you go do, de go before we charge you to court. Leave am, tomorrow you go go court.

“I no ask you money, move motor for me. Go this way, if you like spend 30 hours.”

Afterwards, the officer negotiated a fee to let him go. He asked how much was in Azeez’s possession, and then asked him to put his phone in his pocket, a command Azeez said was made in a bid to prevent recording.

“Put your phone for pocket. You know wetin you go do? How much be that one? Answer me, make I commot here,” the officer said.

Azeez added N1,000 to the N4,000 provided by the driver and gave to the officer before they were let go.

When FIJ spoke with Francis Oyeyemi, the divisional police officer in charge of the station, over the telephone, he asked that Azeez present himself at the station to recover his money.

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