Police dismiss officer over $3,000 extortion

The Nigerian Police have dismissed one of the three officers involved in the alleged extortion of $3,000 from Nigerians.

The officer, Michael Odey, a police inspector was dismissed after Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 16, Bayelsa State, Alifa Omata, upheld the recommendation of the Rivers State command, which had recommended the dismissal of the three officers.

Mr Odey’s dismissal is effective from 7 February.

This is contained in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday by the police spokesperson in Rivers State, Grace Iringe-Koko.

Mr Odey was one of the three officers recommended for dismissal by the Rivers state command after they were found guilty of extorting $3,000 from two Nigerians.

The others are Doubara Edonyabo and Talent Mungo – both assistant police superintendents.

Asked why the two others were not dismissed, Mrs Iringe-Koko said because of ranks – ASPs, their recommendation for dismissal is beyond what an AIG can review.

“The disciplinary process for Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) Doubara Edonyabo and Talent Mungo involves review by the Inspector General of Police and the Police Service Commission, ensuring a fair and just resolution.

“The Rivers State Police Command encourages residents to promptly report any misconduct by law enforcement agents. Be rest assured, all reports will be handled with the utmost seriousness, and appropriate actions will be taken to uphold fairness and justice,” Mrs Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police, said.

“It is important to note that all three officers remain in custody as investigations continue into two additional cases of similar nature. Updates on these investigations will be provided in due course,” she added.

Background

Human rights activist in Delta State, Harrison Gwamnishu, last month drew the attention of the police authorities via a post on X to the alleged extortion.

Mr Gwamnishu alleged that the officers left Rivers State to Aba, where they “abducted” the victims, took them to Delta and Bayelsa states before “dumping” them in Port Harcourt after extorting the $3,000, an equivalent of N4.2 million as of January.

The police spokesperson in Rivers, Mrs Iringe-Koko, who swiftly reacted to the tweet, later updated the public that officers had been identified, detained and the money recovered and refunded to the victims.

After investigation, the police in Rivers recommended that the three officers be dismissed.

Beside the three officers, other police officers in the country have engaged in a series of extortion since the beginning of the year, a development that forced the inspector general of police to issue a statement that officers found guilty of using his name to extort Nigerians will face severe punishment.

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This newspaper last week reported how the commissioner of police in Delta state removed a divisional crime officer in Abraka from his post over alleged extortion of N2.4 million from a Nigerian. The divisional police officer in Abraka is also accused of benefiting in the extortion to the tune of N900,000.

Also, last week, PREMIUM TIMES reported how police officers from the Force Criminal Investigation Department headquarters, Abuja, who were in Edo State to investigate a murder case allegedly extorted N3,150,000 from a Nigerian in Auchi area of the state.

The Force spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, last week announced the detention of some officers serving at the Special Tactical Squad at the Force headquarters in Abuja for extorting over N30 million from Nigerians, this newspaper reported.