Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested and detained four Police Officers for alleged extortion of N204,000 from students of Ignatius Ajuru University in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

THISDAY learned that the police suspects were attached to Puff Adder Tactical Police Unit in the state.

It was gathered that a civil society group, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, had led one of the student victims, Kingsley Dike, to the state Commissioner of Police to lodge a complaint on the alleged extortion.

Shortly after the visit, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Friday Eboka, ordered the arrest of the personnel and subsequently detained them.

Speaking with journalists on the development, a lawyer with the rights group, Charles Edward, commended Eboka for his swift action in the matter.

Edward further urged the police to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile the student, Dike, told journalists that he was on his way home last Friday at about 10p.m. in a bolt car when the policemen stopped him and brought him down from the vehicle.

Dike narrated that: “After a search was conducted on me and my fellow student, the policemen still took us to their base in Aluu despite the fact that nothing incriminating was found on us.

“The police officers ordered me to remove the code on my phone and went through the phone and found nothing. They threw us in the cell that Friday night and brought us out on Saturday morning, and ordered us with threats to write in their statement that we were internet fraudsters.

“For fear of being killed, we wrote we were internet fraudsters after which the police officers gave us an account number which we transferred N204, 000 before we were released on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, THISDAY learned that the suspected police officers were detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Port Harcourt while the money allegedly extorted from the student has been recovered.

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Police Command has arrested and detained four Police Officers for alleged extortion of N204,000 from students of Ignatius Ajuru University in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

THISDAY learned that the police suspects were attached to Puff Adder Tactical Police Unit in the state.

It was gathered that a civil society group, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, had led one of the student victims, Kingsley Dike, to the state Commissioner of Police to lodge a complaint on the alleged extortion.

Shortly after the visit, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Friday Eboka, ordered the arrest of the personnel and subsequently detained them.

Speaking with journalists on the development, a lawyer with the rights group, Charles Edward, commended Eboka for his swift action in the matter.

Edward further urged the police to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile the student, Dike, told journalists that he was on his way home last Friday at about 10p.m. in a bolt car when the policemen stopped him and brought him down from the vehicle.

Dike narrated that: “After a search was conducted on me and my fellow student, the policemen still took us to their base in Aluu despite the fact that nothing incriminating was found on us.

“The police officers ordered me to remove the code on my phone and went through the phone and found nothing. They threw us in the cell that Friday night and brought us out on Saturday morning, and ordered us with threats to write in their statement that we were internet fraudsters.

“For fear of being killed, we wrote we were internet fraudsters after which the police officers gave us an account number which we transferred N204, 000 before we were released on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, THISDAY learned that the suspected police officers were detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Port Harcourt while the money allegedly extorted from the student has been recovered.