- An Asian man has revealed how the Nigeria Police Complaints Response Team intervened to recover £150,000 he was allegedly extorted by police in Ikeja, Lagos, praising the team and department leaders for their prompt response and professionalism.
- He claimed that despite his explanations, police insisted on taking money, forcing him to wire £150,000 to secure his release.
An Asian man has told how the Nigeria Police Force’s Complaints Response Unit (CRU) helped him recover £150,000 allegedly extorted by police in Lagos.
In a video circulated online on Saturday, the man said the incident occurred on Friday night in the Ikeja area of Lagos State when he and a friend were heading to a bar to watch a football match.
According to him, their Uber was stopped by the police on a bridge in Ikeja and he was asked to produce his passport and visa.
“Actually, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. CSP Inadu for this invitation. I would like to share some of my experiences and what happened on Friday night,” he said.
“I was with my friends. We were taking an Uber to go to a football match because, you know, Nigeria played Morocco… so we chose to go to a bar to watch the match, but unfortunately as we were crossing a bridge in Ikeja, Lagos, the officer stopped my Uber and wanted to check my passport and visa.”
He explained that he did not carry his passport but contacted his staff to have a photo of the document sent to his phone to confirm his legal status.
“But actually, I didn’t have my passport with me at the time. So I had to have my staff go to my bedroom and take pictures to show the police.” he said.
However, he claimed the situation escalated and the police became hostile and threatened him.
“But I don’t know, maybe the police, they weren’t very nice to me… He was just very rude, literally, just grabbing me outside the car and threatening me with their weapons and asking me for money,” he said.
“So I was very scared at the time… because I’ve been here in Nigeria for so long, I didn’t see these things happening to me because I had a legal visa. I was here to get a temporary work passport.”
He claimed that despite his explanations, police insisted on taking money, forcing him to wire £150,000 to secure his release.
“So I tried to communicate with him at that time but he didn’t listen, so I ended up having to transfer 150,000 naira to these officials to ensure my safety,” he said.
After receiving a passport image confirming his legal residency, he decided to report the incident. He said he searched online and contacted the police complaints team via email, attaching evidence such as transfer records and visa documents.
“I wrote an email briefly explaining our experience. Within two or three hours, someone from the CRU called me back and asked me to send details, transfer records and visa documents so they had a clear understanding of what was going on.” he said.
He added that a CRU officer, Anthony Chukuma, had been working throughout the weekend to follow up on the case.
“On Sunday, throughout the weekend, when everyone was taking a break, Anthony Chukuma, one of the CRU officers, did not take a break at all. He spent the whole day calling the DPO at Ikeja division to help collect evidence. He was always trying to calm me down,” he said.
He also commended the Ikeja Divisional Police Officer, Akin Umi, for swiftly launching an internal investigation.
“I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the DPO, Ikeja Division, Akin Umi, who showed great integrity and immediately commenced an internal investigation to identify the officers involved.” he added.
According to him, the intervention bore fruit and 150,000 won was returned to his account on Monday morning.
“With the cooperation of the CRU and Ikeja Unit, my money was recovered. £150,000 has been returned to my bank account.” he said.
