Categories: metro

Policemen arrested for extorting man N300,000

Four policemen who allegedly extorted a man, Uche Anthony, of N300,000 on Wednesday in Lagos have been arrested, spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi has said.

The policemen, according to the victim, cocked their gun and forced him to an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, to withdraw N280,000, which they added to the N20,000 cash he had on him and took with them.

Anthony, who took to social media to lament his predicament, said his only offence was having finance technology (fintech) apps on his phone and foreign numbers in his contact.

He wrote: “I just got accosted by the police and I was extorted of N300,000 in Lagos. Simply because I have Binance and Trust wallet on my phone. I use an iPhone13 pro max and I am in a lot of crypto groups and I am talking to foreign numbers who happen to be my uncles and cousins abroad.

“They seized my phone and won’t let me even explain. For the first time in my life someone cocked a gun at me and said I should enter the car. I’m still in the trauma of the experience. I could quickly pick up the name of one of the police officers.

“They insisted I must pay them more than half of what is in my account. They went to my message inbox and saw my GTB balance. I said I wasn’t paying a dime and they said I’ll sleep in the cell and no one will know because they were with my phone.