The Commissioner of Police for Lagos State, Idowu Owohunwa, has issued an order for the dismissal of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Meiran Police Station, Lagos State, in response to allegations of extortion.
A victim, Ibrahim Saliu, who spoke with PUNCH, claimed that the DPO and some police officers extorted N200,000 from him and his brother on Saturday, and threatened them with jail time if they did not provide receipts for their phones.
Saliu recounted, “The DPO confiscated our iPhones, removed the warranty stickers, and accused my brother and me of theft and armed robbery. Subsequently, the DPO ordered our detention, threatening us with charges of theft and armed robbery, which left us in shock, and we began pleading.”
Saliu further revealed that he was asked to make a N500,000 payment to secure their freedom. They agreed to N200,000, paid in cash per the officers’ order.
In a tweet confirming the incident on Wednesday, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, announced that Commissioner of Police Idowu Owohunwa had immediately relieved the Meiran Police Station DPO of duty.
Hundeyin stated, “CP Idowu Owohunwa has ordered the immediate removal of the DPO of Meiran due to leadership negligence and supervisory inadequacy. Meanwhile, all the involved officers have been identified and are presently at the Command headquarters, where their internal investigation has begun.”