A barber in Nigeria has raised a distressing plea for justice after allegedly being extorted by a group of police officers in the Second Rainbow area of Lagos state.
According to the barber, the incident occurred when he booked a ride through a popular ride-sharing app. The police officers reportedly conducted a search on him after stopping the ride and forcibly took him into their car upon seeing his iPhone 14 Pro Max. They accused him of fraud and threatened to take him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if he didn't give them N2 million.
The barber further revealed that the police officers proceeded to extort him of N100,000 after taking him to a Point-of-Sale unit. He took to Twitter to share his ordeal, expressing his fear and shock at the abuse he experienced. He explained how the police officers stopped his Uber ride, searched it, and then forced him into their patrol car, where they claimed they would report him to the EFCC. Despite asserting his innocence and presenting his barbering certificate, the officers allegedly refused to listen and even prevented him from breathing when he begged for air.
The barber shared that the officers demanded a payment of N2 million, confiscated his phone, and threatened physical harm or incarceration if he didn't comply. After checking his UBA bank balance and realizing he couldn't afford the demanded amount, they coerced him into giving them N100,000. The victim emphasized that no evidence of fraudulent activity was found on his phone. He was unable to capture pictures of the officers as they had confiscated his phones, but he provided pictures of the Point-of-Sale receipts as evidence. The incident took place in the Second Rainbow area of Lagos State.
In response to the barber's tweets, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, expressed his commitment to address the issue and requested that the victim follow up with the advice given by the Area Commander, assuring that the police force will continue to work towards eliminating misconduct within its ranks.
Spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin who reacted to the tweets wrote;
“Just as we discussed on phone, follow through with the Area Commander’s advise and keep us updated. We will not be deterred in our resolve to rid the Force of bad eggs. We will not!”
