The action of the dismissal of the officers,
was taken in a case of illegal arrest and
extortion reported three weeks ago by an
unnamed Nigerian using the popular social-
messaging service, WhatsApp.
A statement by Assistant Commissioner of
Police Abayomi Shogunle of the Public
Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) in
Abuja, said the dismissal followed an
internal trial at which the men were found
guilty, under the Police Act, of corrupt
practices and discreditable conduct.
In a major image-makeover effort, the
PCRRU is sending to the public such
messages as: “Remember, Bail is Free, PCRRU
says NO TO IMPUNITY and our quick
response will put a smile on your face.”
The dismissed officers are: Inspector Okelue
Nkemeonye, Sgt. Braimoh Sunday and Sgt.
Yusuf Olukoga, met their fate after the
complaint was filed on June 21. Their lead
officer, ASP Bayo Obadiah, received an
official query and his case is being sorted
out.
In his message to the PCRRU, the
complainant told the horrendous story of
how he was abducted by a team of
policemen that morning as he came out of a
bank to transact business. Held all day until
about 6 p.m., not only was he beaten by the
policemen, they used his ATM to withdraw
money from his account, and transferred
money into another account provided by
one of them.
According to ACP Shogunle, “Upon the
receipt of the complaint, a case with
Tracking Number PCRRU637624 was
registered and acknowledgment of
complaint sent to the complainant. PCRRU
Investigation team was dispatched to
Ikorodu where all the three dismissed
policemen including AP No. 98199 ASP Bayo
Obadia who led the team were
apprehended. PCRRU preliminary
investigation reveals that all the allegations
contained in the WhatsApp message actually
happened.”
In addition, he said the four police officers
who were armed on the day of the incident
had falsely paraded themselves as
operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS) despite not being posted to SARS by
police authorities.
Investigation also showed that the officers
extorted a total sum of N200,000 from the
young men whom they tagged “Yahoo
Yahoo Boys,” the money forcibly taken from
them via an N90,000 ATM withdrawal and
another N110,000 mobile bank money
transfer to a third-party account provided by
the policemen, ACP Shogunle continued,
adding the extorted N200,000 was
recovered by the PCRRU Investigators.
“All the arrested officers, witnesses and
recovered exhibits including the N200,000
cash and printed bank statement of account
were handed over to the Assistant
Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2 Lagos for
further detailed investigation and necessary
disciplinary measures,” he said. “The
approval of the punishment of dismissal
from service as recommended by the
Adjudicating officer is part of the outcome
of the disciplinary measures.”
With reference to ASP Bayo Obadiah “who
led the team of the infamous men on this
unacceptable conduct,” he pointed out that
an official query was issued to him by the
AIG Zone 2 Lagos, and that both his reply
and that query have been forwarded to the
office of the Force Secretary in Abuja from
where it will go to the Police Service
Commission as required by Police
Regulations.
“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim
K. Idris, has commended the complainant for
coming forward to report the incident to
PCRRU, the IGP has also said that all
allegations of professional misconduct
reported against any police officer would be
treated in line with relevant laws and in
keeping to the ‘Change Begins With Me
Campaign’ of the Federal Government,”
Shogunle noted.
He encouraged the public to report cases of
police misconduct to the PCRRU for
resolution, stressing that the IGP Idris led
administration is bent on ensuring a more
public friendly and corrupt free police force
in Nigeria.
