Three officers of the Nigeria Police Force attached to Isheri Division have been arrested for allegedly extorting a young man, Ramadan Adenola, during a stop-and-search operation in Lagos.
Adenola, 21, who is known as Netrovert on X, shared his ordeal on Sunday, recounting how he and a coworker were stopped near Under Bridge while heading from Ikeja to Berger in a Bolt ride.
Despite complying with their search and presenting his identification, he claimed the officers forced them into the back of the car and took them to Isheri Police Station.
“At the station, one officer seemed particularly interested in my phone. I explained that I am a writer and content creator, but he wasn’t satisfied. When he saw my Binance app, he called it ‘incriminating evidence,’” he wrote.
Adenola further alleged that after a thorough search of their belongings yielded nothing illegal, the officers led them to an unfinished building behind the station and demanded N2 million for their release.
“Everything happened in a set of rooms behind their main office. In the unfinished building, the officer said: ‘Give us ₦2M, and you can go.’ I tried negotiating ₦20K, but he refused. We went back to the main room,” he recounted.
He said after negotiations, they settled on ₦100,000, but another officer, upon seeing funds in his Binance and Trust Wallet apps, pressured him to pay more.
He was eventually forced to withdraw cash and hand it over to the officers before being released after two hours.
“What was supposed to be a 20-minute ride turned into a 2-hour extortion session that ended with a ₦150,000 payout,” he wrote.
Reacting to the allegations on Monday via X, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that the Complaint Response Unit had taken up the case.
“The three police officers, attached to Isheri Division, have been identified and taken into custody by their DPO. The money too has been recovered, while efforts are being made to reach the complainant,” Hundeyin stated.
He added that the Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, had ordered the officers’ transfer to the Provost Office at the Lagos Command Headquarters for disciplinary action.
