Nigerian Police Trial Begins For Officers Caught On Video Threatening Corps Members After N1 Million Extortion In Lagos

Ikeja, Lagos State– The Lagos State Police Command has summoned four officers for questioning following allegations of extorting N1 million from members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

A video circulating on social media shows the officers threatening to shoot the corps members if they refused to comply with their demands.

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the situation on Friday via X, stating that the officers are under investigation for their actions.

He added that the officers in question have been summoned and would face trial for misconduct and extortion.

He assured the public that the police are committed to ensuring justice is served and restoring public confidence in law enforcement.

He said, “The men have been summoned, and their trial has commenced. We urge the complainants to visit the Complaint Response Unit at the state headquarters to testify at the ongoing trial.”

Fásípè (@YemieFash) wrote, “Dear @BenHundeyin, Your officers today in Surulere extorted 1 million naira from 3 corps members. They were threatened with firearms, kidnapped, and taken to the KAFARU OLUWOLE TINUBU HOUSE AREA C POLICE COMMAND of the @LagosPoliceNG where they were robbed. Their offense was the absence of a physical copy of a driver’s license. This is evil.”

In one of the videos, an officer is also heard saying, “This one is fighting me, I give myself to gun, somebody give me gun, carry me come here and you are putting hand on me like this.”

The officers, however, instructed someone to remove the car owner’s license plate.

One of the officers said, “If you do anyhow, I will molest you. What do you mean?”

A police officer got into the car and instructed the corps members not to make any calls. When the corps members explained that they needed to inform their relatives about the situation, the officer insisted they put their phones away, threatening to write a statement against them if they did not comply.

The officer said, “If you reach the station, you make any call, me I’m telling you now, this is what we always do for our station, you don’t make call now, you go put your phone inside your pocket first.”

One of the corps members said, “If I am in the car with you, it means I cannot make the call, I cannot call anybody, nobody has to know where I am.

“But I need to call people they need to know where I’m going to, my loved ones.”

The officer said, “Put your phone inside your pocket because this is what I am going to give you statement to make.”

One of the corps members, who was driving, asked, “Why are we making statements? You said we were going there to photocopy.”