Recounting his ordeal, one Ubachukwu Emmanuel stated that he was extorted because he was in possession of a herbal soap he wanted to use to ‘solve’ some spiritual problems.
A Lagos resident found himself unjustly detained and subjected to extortion by police officers who allegedly suspected his herbal soap as meant for ‘ritual purposes’.
The ordeal, which saw him being forced to pay over N120,000 to secure his release, has left the victim bewildered and fearful of further police harassment.
Recounting his ordeal, one Ubachukwu Emmanuel stated that he was extorted because he was in possession of a herbal soap he wanted to use to ‘solve’ some spiritual problems.
“I had some spiritual issues and I was given a local herbal soap to protect myself. That was where my problem started from. I was going out on this fateful day and I was stopped by the police. They asked to know what was in my bag and I told them,” he said.
He stated that after sighting the soap in his bag, the policemen accused him of being a ritualist.
“I was taken to the police command in Iba, slapped several times and detained for about two days,” he added.
He said that despite pleas for his release, he was detained alongside hardened criminals.
Emmanuel noted that he begged the policemen to release him, adding that even pleas from his brother fell on deaf ears as he was asked to cough up money to bribe his way out of the situation.
“At some point, I learnt that a superior officer asked them to bring the soap and transfer me, so that they can verify truly that the soap is for ritualistic purpose as claimed by the Iba police station but the officials refused to do so.
“Instead, they said I must pay money before they can let me go and hand over the soap they claimed was ritualistic to me.”
Emmanuel said he was initially asked to pay N2 million to be released from Iba police station but the figure was later reduced to N120,000.
He said after collecting the money, the police officers forced him to make a video stating that he didn’t pay them any amount.
Despite stating that the soap with him was that of a ritualist, Emmanuel said they returned the soap to him after collecting N120,000 from him.
He identified one of the officers who arrested him as Commander Endurance.
Bank transfer receipts of the alleged extortion sent to SaharaReporters show that N101,000 and N20,000 were sent to Hyginus Ekeocha, whom Emmanuel described as a POS operator who facilitated the transactions.
He said N1,000 was deducted as charges for the transactions.
When contacted about the alleged extortion, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Ben Hundeyin told SaharaReporters that the matter would be investigated.
“The case will be investigated and sent to the police complaint unit that handles this kind of situation. I will ensure it is escalated to the level of the commissioner and the issue is investigated,” he said.