The Lagos State Police Command has told members of the public not to pay any money when reporting cases or securing bail at any police station in the state.
The warning came from the Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, during an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Lagos. He urged residents to resist any form of extortion by officers and report such actions to the Command’s Complaint Response Unit.
“No one should pay to file a complaint or to get bail. Bail is free,” Hundeyin said.
His comments follow reports from some Lagos residents who said they were asked to pay money before officers would accept their complaints or grant them bail, even though the police have always said that “Bail is Free.”
One resident shared his experience, saying he was arrested in Meiran after being wrongly accused of stealing an iPhone. He claimed that officers asked him to pay N2,000 before giving him a statement form. Later, when the accuser admitted the phone was not stolen, the man said police still asked him for N10,000 to release him. After pleading, he paid N5,000.
Another person, a university student, said he was stopped at Oshodi during a routine police check. He explained that he was asked for the receipt of his phone, which he didn’t have because it was passed down from his older brother.
“I was taken to the station. They said they would charge me for armed robbery if I didn’t pay. I told them I only had N5,000. They checked my account balance, then took me to a POS. I withdrew N4,000 and gave it to them,” the student said.
Reacting to these cases, CSP Hundeyin called such behaviour “corrupt practices” and urged Lagosians not to give in to such demands.
“If an officer asks for money, report it. One person called the CRU during such an incident, and the unit stepped in. That person was released without paying anything,” he said.
“People should learn to use the systems we have put in place to report these wrongdoings,” Hundeyin added.
The police say the Complaint Response Unit is always open to listen to the public and take action when reports are made.
