FCT police arrest four officers over alleged extortion of ICPC chairman

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested four police officers accused of extorting ₦53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the development on Monday, describing the officers as “criminals” who had no place in the Nigeria Police Force.

According to Sanusi, the officers allegedly forced Aliyu to withdraw ₦53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) operator, made him pay the transaction charges and later shared the money among themselves.

He said the suspects abandoned their official duty posts and mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex area in Wuse, where they stopped and extorted motorists without knowing that one of their victims was the ICPC chairman.

The commissioner said investigations revealed the officers had formed an extortion syndicate. The command declared them wanted before arresting the alleged gang leader, whose confession led to the arrest of the remaining members.

“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 said.

He also reiterated the Inspector-General of Police’s directive prohibiting officers from indiscriminately searching citizens’ mobile phones and urged residents to reject such requests and report offenders through the police emergency lines.

Sanusi assured the public that the command would continue to investigate and sanction officers involved in extortion and other forms of misconduct.