Three police in custody over alleged $3,000 extortion
The Rivers State Police Command on Saturday said it had identified and arrested three cops accused of kidnapping and extorting the sum of $3,000 from a yet-to-be-identified man in Port Harcourt.
The man was allegedly whisked by the policemen from the Rivers State capital, and taken outside the state where he was forced to transfer the said sum before he was released.
The spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
The arrest followed a revelation from an X user, Harrison Gwamnishu, on his handle, @HarrisonBbi18, who stated that “police officers attached to Rivers State Police Command left Port Harcourt to Aba, Abia State, arrested the man, took him to Bayelsa State and entered Ughelli, Delta State.
“After paying $3,000, they moved him (the man) back to Port Harcourt and dumped him.”
Though it was not clear what offence the man committed before he was accosted by the policemen, Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police said an investigation into the matter was ongoing.
In a terse statement titled, “Re: $3,000 USDT Transferred To Police Officers Wallet,” the PPRO said, “The police personnel have been identified and arrested.
“Three of the officers are in custody while the investigation is in progress.”
She also promised to make the outcome of the investigation public as soon as it was concluded.