The art historian earlier narrated how he was robbed on Christmas Day in Ile-Ife, southwest Nigeria.
Moyo Okediji, a Nigerian-American professor at the University of Texas, Austine, has narrated how he was extorted by the police in a bid to track down robber(s) who stole from him on Christmas Day.
The art historian earlier narrated how he was robbed on Christmas Day in Ile-Ife, southwest Nigeria.
The latest incident comes less than two weeks after Okediji narrated how some Nigerian immigration officers at the Seme border allegedly robbed him of $500 and took his hand luggage with all the money that he brought from the US while returning to Nigeria.
Okediji further alleged that some police officers attached to the FESTAC Mile 2 Station, Lagos State nearly killed him after his encounter with the immigration officers, but for the timely intervention of some young men.
Regarding the Christmas Day attack, Okediji said the robber who identified himself as a ‘Fulani herdsman’ was in his home from midnight to 1:00 am.
Narrating the incident, the painter and artist said he was at home with his stepdaughter and her five-year-old baby when a bandit entered their chalet.
According to him, the robbers took his two most important material possessions: “my MacBook laptop and my iPhone”. He said they missed the iPad with which he typed his experience.
Following the attack, Okediji reported the incident at the Zone 2 Command Headquarters in Lagos, where he said he was extorted by a policeman assigned to the case.
He said, “I went to Zone 2 of the Nigeria Police at Ikoyi, Lagos. Folks instructed me that it was the best unit to track the bandits who attacked me because they had computer-savvy experts.
“A connection led me to the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police there, who instructed his Personal Assistant to assist me in arresting the suspects.
“The PA instructed a subordinate officer to take me to a kiosk, where they assisted me in writing a petition to the Nigeria Police to assist me to track my electronic gadgets and apprehend the bandits.
“They also took a handwritten narrative of the attack as evidence. The officers on duty filed these documents.
“The ASP of the unit, after carefully listening to my story, and reading the petition, gave me the number of the officer assigned to track and arrest the bandits. They assured me that the culprits would be arrested the following day, unfailingly, once I discussed it with the officer assigned to the case.
“The officer whose number they gave me asked for one hundred thousand Naira (N100,000). I appealed to him to reduce the amount, but he replied with a simple ‘No.’
“He gave me a First Bank account number 3046721216, belonging to one Aborishade Sunday Emmanuel, to which he asked me to transfer the one hundred thousand Naira.
“I hesitated. One hundred thousand Naira was a lot of money. Those who accompanied me to the police station said I should go ahead and transfer the money so that we could quickly get the suspects arrested.
“I transferred one hundred thousand Naira into the First Bank account belonging to Aborishade.
“Was he a real police officer or a private operator?” Okediji asked, adding, “If he wasn’t a real police officer, why did the ASP of Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, provide me his number to arrest the bandits? What was the nature of this marriage between the Nigeria Police and this fellow?”
He continued, “I wanted to find out the answers to these questions and also have definite evidence of my interaction with this fellow.
“Within one hour, he called me back with good news. He tracked the suspects to Ore in Ondo State, and Abeokuta in Ogun State.
“Then he asked for seven hundred thousand Naira (N750,000) to arrest only one of the suspects. I decided that at that point that I had enough justification to record my conversation with this fellow that the Nigeria Police directed me to call.
“I felt that it was important to have a record of the conversation for future reference. Not only was it wrong to pay a police officer to do his job, but the demanded gratification was on the high side.
“Besides, I felt that from that moment onward, it was necessary to have every interaction recorded, for my own safety. I suddenly felt that my life was in serious danger, and I was dealing with an intersection of the underworld rackets of bandits, and a corps of trusted police officers in a nefarious marriage of public extortion.
“As I spoke with the police tracker, I asked the three people who went with me to the police station to record the conversation.”
When SaharaReporters got in touch with Zone 2 Command Headquarters Public Relations Officer, SP Ayuba Tunni Umma, on his mobile line, he was not audible as the connection was poor.
However, he did not answer subsequent calls and did not reply to the text message sent to him.
Okediji said the verbatim account of his conversation with the policeman goes thus:
Okediji: If there’s anything you can do to assist me with the process of tracking and arresting the suspects, please help me.
Because I have come from a very far place, and I didn’t anticipate spending all this money. I came here just for a short holiday.
But now, I have spent so much money in the hotel. I have given you one hundred thousand Naira to assist me to track the suspects. And you are now asking for seven hundred and sixty thousand Naira sir. I just cannot afford it. If there’s anything you can do, please; this is a lot of money for me. I’m a 67-year-old man. I’m not a young person any more. Please is there anything you can do to reduce this N760,000 that you are asking for, sir? Please….I’m begging you.
Police Tracker: I’m a professional tracker. When you give me money, I will deliver your work.
Okediji: Yes, sir.
Police Tracker: That is the way I work. Before I talk, I have gone around the job, I know what it will cost me, what I will spend, and what will be the outcome. I don’t just give bill like that.
Okediji: So what is the final figure, please…please….
Police Tracker: As it is now, I hear your predicament. It is not something that we…. It’s not a day’s work, it’s not two days’ work. This job is going to take me, if possible, a whole week.