A Lagos resident has accused officers of the Abattoir Police Division in Agege of extorting N20,000 from him over alleged “late-night walking,” claiming the Divisional Police Officer later blocked his number after he reported the incident.
Richard Mpamugo, a resident of Agege in Lagos State, has narrated to FIJ how policemen attached to the Abattoir Police Division allegedly extorted N20,000 from him and how Augustine Ikeh, their Divisional Police Officer (DPO), blocked his number after he reported the matter to her. Mpamugo said he was in front of his estate at about 10:30 pm on Sunday when officers approached him and insisted on arresting him. When he asked why, “They said that they were arresting me for late-night walking.”
He described the arrest as baseless, stating that the alleged offence does not exist in Lagos State or anywhere in the country. “They took me to their station and kept me there until 2 am, then demanded N20,000 to release me,” he said. At exactly 1:54 am on Monday, Mpamugo said he transferred the money to a POS operator stationed outside the police station. He added that he could identify two of the officers involved as well as the POS operator.
Armed with his account, FIJ sent a narration of the incident to Ikeh via WhatsApp on Wednesday. Responding, the Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) wrote, “Thkx greatly!” When FIJ asked if the victim could call her, she read the message but did not respond. Ikeh’s phone number is among several public contacts published on X by the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, for residents to report distress. When Mpamugo subsequently called her at FIJ’s request, she reportedly promised to probe the matter but later blocked his number.
NEWS NOW:
