Police investigate claims of extortion by unknown officers in Imo

The Nigeria Police Force has started an investigation after a viral video raised concerns about illegal arrests and extortion by unknown officers. This is happening especially in Owerri, Imo State, as the festive season approaches.

The video, shared by a content creator named Young Entertainment on Saturday, accused some officers in unmarked cars of stopping people. He said these officers arrested individuals without proper identification and extorted money from them.

In the video posted on X, he claimed that the officers often drove vehicles without number plates and wore uniforms without name tags or any form of ID. He also said some of them wore face masks to hide their identities.

Young Entertainment stated that these officers would stop people travelling in public vehicles and conduct searches. Even when nothing illegal was found, they forced victims into their vehicles.

He said victims were then allegedly taken to remote places where they were assaulted and pressured to transfer money to the officers before being let go. "The mistake you will do is enter into their vehicle, because once you enter that their vehicle, that is where the extortion starts. They will now start telling you, ‘Open your phone. Open your bank,’ transfer money to them," he said.

According to him, many victims had reached out with similar stories. He mentioned that some were still receiving treatment for injuries from these encounters. Some of the incidents reportedly happened around Bank Road and near the State CID in Owerri.

"People call it arrest most time. For me, I call it kidnap because if you check it, picking you illegally from a position to an unknown location, it’s kidnapping," he said.

Young Entertainment called on the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, CP Audu Boso, to set up patrol teams, especially from the police X-Squad, to monitor officers and vehicles in the areas mentioned in the complaints. He noted that over 50 complaints had come to him and warned that these incidents could rise during the festive season.

In response to the video on Sunday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, recognized the allegations. He instructed the Police Complaints Response Unit to reach out to the complainant for more details.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. @PoliceNG_CRU, please urgently contact the complainant for more details to facilitate prompt intervention. The NPF is committed to serving the public and upholding the rule of law," Iniedu said.

PoliceNG_CRU responded to the FPRO on X, confirming the instruction and promising action.