According to him, a four-man armed police team stormed his shop alongside a female customer who had purchased an iPhone 16 (256GB) from him about a month earlier.
A phone and accessories seller based in Bayelsa State, Hart Boma Edward, has accused officers of the Nigeria Police Force attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit in Enugu State, of unlawful arrest, prolonged detention, and extortion running into millions of naira.
Narrating his ordeal to SaharaReporters, Edward, who hails from Rivers State, said his troubles began on July 11, 2025, while he was seated in his shop.
According to him, a four-man armed police team stormed his shop alongside a female customer who had purchased an iPhone 16 (256GB) from him about a month earlier.
Edward said he was prevented from making phone calls, harassed, and eventually arrested after being told that some phones stolen during a burglary matched models he sold.
"I asked to know what the matter was but was harassed instead. I tried to make a phone call but was belligerently confronted and my phone seized,” he said.
He alleged that the officers, who claimed to be from Enugu, seized about 30 phones, including iPhones and Samsung devices, as well as his personal iPad, before driving him from Bayelsa to Enugu.
"I was told a man’s shop was burgled and four phones were stolen. They showed me the list of the phones: iPhone 16, iPhone 16pro max, 2 iPhone 14 pro max, all 256gb,” Edward told SaharaReporters.
He said he was detained for three days before being transferred to the SWAT unit, where the case allegedly escalated from burglary to armed robbery and terrorism.
He said, "I was in shock but obliged to follow them. They came from the Anti-cultism unit in Enugu. I was taken along with 30 pieces of my phones: iPhone and Samsungs, my personal iPad 10th generation.”
Edward claimed the police demanded he produce the dealer who supplied the phones, leading him to pay N1.2 million for police “mobilisation” and an additional N200,000 for tracking.
Edward told SaharaReporters, "We made a brief stop at a station called 'octopus', then we proceeded and drove all the way to Enugu.
"When we arrived in Enugu, I was thrown into a cell where I stayed for 3 days before I was transferred to SWAT in Enugu.
"Upon arrival, I was told it was a case of armed robbery and terrorism, and that the complainant, Mr Oseh chibuike, was robbed of 26 pieces of his phone.
"They claimed that a vehicle was coming from Lagos to Anambra but was ambushed and 26 pieces of iPhones were taken.
"I said that’s not what I was told. They said the only way I was to be set free was if I could bring the person who sold me the phone. I said I bought the phones from a dealer and it’s the same dealer I have been buying from.
"Because I was willing to get out of there at all cost, I didn’t hesitate to pay N1.2 million to mobilize the police to get the dealer. That’s excluding the N200,000 I paid for tracking.”
Despite bringing the dealer to Enugu, Edward said he remained in detention for weeks.
He alleged that during a meeting with the Commissioner of Police, it was revealed that the case was not armed robbery but “diverted goods,” and that the complainant admitted he was advised by an investigating officer to frame it as robbery.
"The commissioner asked the complainant, 'Why did you say it was a case of armed robbery?' He (the complainant) said, "The IPO told me to say so to make it look good'”.
Edward further alleged that despite this revelation, he was returned to detention, denied food and water, and threatened until he transferred N3.5 million to an account allegedly linked to a phone business, paid N500,000 as bail, and still did not recover his seized phones.
"At that point, I felt sad but also happy that at last I would be free, but it didn’t end there. I was taken back to my cell and my punishment intensified,” he said.
"I wasn’t given water nor food and I was always threatened. I couldn’t take it anymore, I broke, I was made to transfer N3.5 million to an account (Blessed Mobile) and pay N500,000 as bail, yet my phones were not given to me.”
Edward told SaharaReporters that he was made to write an undertaking under duress agreeing to assist the police in arresting the suspects, and to pay the sum of N11.8 million to the complainant to make up the total value of the alleged stolen phones which is said to be N18.5 million.
The undertaking read, “I hereby want to undertake to assist the police in arresting other suspects in the case of stolen phones of Mr Oseh Chibuike, also undertake to pay the balance of N11.8 million to make up the total value of N18.5 million being the total amount of the value of the stolen phones, which payment I shall make on or before the 1st of November 2025.
“I also undertake to provide the police with logistics to track down the other suspects.”
Edward further told SaharaReporters that the suspects he was compelled to produce had been arrested by the police and were granted bail.
“The persons they (the police) are asking me to provide are the same persons they had arrested before I was arrested and these persons paid N5 million and were granted bail about a month before I was arrested,” he said.
According to him, the suspects who had been arrested and subsequently granted bail also went to the Force Headquarters in Abuja and wrote statements.
“The first person they arrested was a girl. She said the phone was gifted to her on her birthday by her boyfriend. But after detaining her, they extorted N3 million from the girl,” Edward told SaharaReporters.
“They also arrested the girl's boyfriend, detained him for two weeks and extorted N2 million from him. They asked him how he got the phone and he said he got the phone from a dealer.
“They arrested the dealer and the dealer paid N5 million. So, from the iPhone 16 alone, they (the police) made N10 million,” Edward added.
He said he has since petitioned the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja but claimed no action has been taken.
"I have been begging to get my phones back, still no headway. I have exhausted all my funds and I’m financially handicapped,” Edward said, alleging that the officers involved have shown no concern over his complaints.
"I have taken the case to the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja, yet nothing has come out of the entire case. The officers don’t seem to be perturbed."