Police arrest four officers for allegedly extorting ICPC chairman in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested four police officers accused of extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), at an illegal checkpoint in Abuja.

The officers, who were reportedly unaware that the motorist they stopped was Nigeria’s anti-corruption chief, allegedly forced him to withdraw the money through a Point of Sale (POS) operator before sharing the proceeds among themselves.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the incident on Monday while briefing journalists in Abuja, describing the suspects as rogue officers who abandoned their official duty posts to engage in criminal activities.

According to Sanusi, the officers left their assigned divisions and converged around the Banex area in Wuse, where they established an unauthorised stop-and-search checkpoint used to extort motorists.

He explained that Dr. Aliyu became one of their victims after he was stopped and allegedly compelled to make the payment.

“They extorted the Chairman of the ICPC of N53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” the Commissioner of Police said.

Sanusi described the officers as “a gang of criminals,” insisting that they had no legitimate policing assignment at the location where the incident occurred.

“They are a gang of criminals who left various divisions, clustered together, moved to Wuse Banex and created a checkpoint where they perpetrated this act,” he added.

The police commissioner said the command launched an investigation after receiving complaints about the illegal checkpoint.

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According to him, the command first declared the suspects wanted before tracking down the alleged gang leader, whose confession subsequently led investigators to the arrest of the remaining three officers.

He assured the public that the suspects would face the full weight of police disciplinary procedures and any applicable criminal prosecution.

“We got all of them. We are going to make sure they are severely punished. Those that are going to be dismissed will definitely be dismissed,” Sanusi stated.

Reiterating the directives of the Inspector-General of Police, the FCT police boss stressed that officers on patrol have no authority to stop members of the public and search their mobile phones without lawful justification.

He urged residents to resist such unlawful demands and immediately report any officer attempting to carry out illegal searches or extortion.

“You cannot stop anybody on the road and ask the person to bring out his phone for search. If any policeman stops you and asks to search your phone, don’t agree. Call the police emergency lines and we will ask them why,” he said.

Sanusi assured residents of the Federal Capital Territory that the command remains committed to identifying and sanctioning officers involved in extortion, illegal checkpoints and other forms of professional misconduct.

He said the command would continue to strengthen internal disciplinary mechanisms to restore public confidence in the Nigeria Police Force, stressing that corrupt officers would not be shielded from punishment.

The incident has renewed concerns over allegations of police extortion and the persistence of unauthorised checkpoints, despite repeated directives from the police high command prohibiting such practices and ongoing efforts to improve professionalism and accountability within the Force.