Policemen attached to the Zone D, Area Command in Lagos State, have refused to issue a police character certificate (PCC) to an aged applicant despite her provision of a N30,000 receipt generated on the Police Specialised Services Automation Project (POSSAP) website.

On Tuesday afternoon, 63-year-old Abiola Laguda and her son visited the Zone D office to undergo what was supposed to be a seamless biometric capture process. She presented her receipt, but Joseph Olaoluwa, a policeman in the admin office, told her they did not recognise the online application, and that she had to pay N80,000 to get a PCC.

FIJ investigated this incident on Wednesday by pretending to be related to the Lagudas and calling to verify Olaoluwa’s position. The policeman reiterated this stance, sent his account number and confirmed receipt of N80,000.

During this call, he claimed to have an accomplice who was a policeman working in the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Lagos. This accomplice, Olaoluwa said, could generate a PCC without biometrics.

THE GENESIS

Oluwafemi Finitie, a Lagos resident, texted FIJ on Wednesday morning to say he read the newspaper’s undercover report detailing fraud in the PCC procurement process. It was timely as he just experienced an extortion attempt a day earlier.

“I registered and paid for my mom’s PCC, only for my brother and mom to get to Zone D police station in Mushin and hear that the online registration was invalid,” Finitie told FIJ.

READ MORE: UNDERCOVER: With N45,000, I Got Valid Police Character Certificate for Kirikiri Prison Inmate

“The police are demanding N80,000. We really need urgent help.”

He explained that when his mother and brother visited the station, one of the policemen they met was Olaoluwa. The policeman introduced himself as ‘Aiyefele’, and told them to text him when they were ready to proceed.

The pair explained to Olaoluwa that the POSSAP website was set up for applicants to pay online and only go to the station for biometric capturing that was supposed to be free.

The policeman rejected this position, and said the only way they could obtain the document they needed was if they parted with N80,000.

PROBING OLAOLUWA

Pretending to be related to the pair, FIJ called ‘Aiyefele’ on Wednesday. On the phone, he confirmed seeing the people who came “in respect of this fingerprint of a thing”.

When FIJ mentioned the POSSAP application, he said his partner would not be able to work with the receipt they tendered, but would start the application afresh.

“He would want to do his own from beginning to the end,” Olaoluwa said of his partner.

This partner, according to the policeman, works in Alagbon. Detailing their activities, he said, “I normally collect passport photographs. I would send it to him, he would now do it. So, without even that person coming for capturing, maybe he is going to use that passport photograph, maybe that’s what he… I don’t know how.”

Olaoluwa claimed if he was paid on Wednesday, he could have the certificate ready by Friday. After the call, he texted his account number, and hours later, he confirmed the N80,000 payment.

READ MORE: After FIJ’s Undercover Investigation, NPF Says It’ll Probe Character Certificate Fraud

REACTIONS

During the investigation process, FIJ called policemen in the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) to explain the situation and follow up with our findings.

They got details of the matter and promised to investigate FIJ’s findings.

The FIB is currently investigating DSP Stella Agidin and Abel Gwazza, two persons previously exposed by FIJ for PCC fraud. FIJ had gone undercover between November 2023 and July 2024 to obtain a PCC for a prison inmate.

The report detailed police conivance, porosity of the POSSAP website, extortion and lapses in record-keeping.

As of Tuesday, Stella and Abel were held in custody in Abuja.