TheCable

The police command in Imo says it has arrested three officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and two personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for allegedly extorting residents of the state.

Henry Okoye, spokesperson of the command, said on Tuesday that a 37-year-old police inspector was also arrested for the same offence.

He alleged that the suspects were “notorious for extorting unsuspecting civilians, especially the youths in Owerri, using point-of-sale (POS) machines”.

“These are security operatives hiding under the umbrella of Operation Search and Flush in Imo, harassing and extorting unsuspecting members of the public, in particular, the youths to the tune of thousands of Naira,” Okoye said while parading the officers.

“They use POS, seize and check the phones of their victims, thereby bringing untold hardship to them.

Okoye assured the public that action would be expedited to conclude the investigation and bring the suspects to justice.

The arrested officers are Kelechi Chijioke, David Nwaji, Nwaka Ikechukwu, Obijiaku Israel, Omodi Timothy, and Odidika Augustine.

During the parade, Nwaji, one of the arrested civil defence officers, denied extorting money from anyone.

But a victim, who identified himself as Obiji-Pat Chidera, said the operatives extorted N1.9 million from him.

Chidera, who said is a student of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), alleged that his younger brother was recently extorted of N350,000.