The Edo State Police Command has returned to a building contractor, Emmanuel Alabede, the N100,000 bribe collected from him by some policemen attached to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the command.
It was gathered that the state Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, invited Alabede for a discussion on the alleged bribe immediately after PUNCH Metro reported it on July 17, 2018.
The building contractor said he could not immediately see the CP as he was “busy with work.”
He added that when he eventually visited the command on Thursday, August 9, the money was refunded to him.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Alabede was travelling from Ibadan, Oyo State, to Abuja when the commercial car he was travelling in was stopped by the cops along the Ibilo-Okene Expressway and the bags of the occupants of the car searched.
The operatives were reportedly searching Alabede’s mobile phone when a bank alert of N200,000 popped up on the phone.
It was reported that the cops allegedly threatened to kill him if he failed to give them part of the N200,000.
The contractor said since he was afraid for his life, he reluctantly followed them to a Point of Sale (POS) operator nearby and he made a withdrawal of N100,000 through the POS machine, which the policemen took from him.
Alabede said after his story was published by The PUNCH, he got a call from the state Commissioner of Police, who noted that his attention was drawn to the story.
He said, “I went to the command with my lawyer on Thursday and I narrated what happened to the CP. The man was angry at the cops.
“I later wrote a withdrawal letter of the case and my money was refunded to me.
“I withdrew the case for the sake of humanity and my own safety because if they should dismiss the policemen, I don’t know what will become of them.
“They had job when they perpetrated the act; imagine what they will do when they don’t have job again.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank PUNCH newspapers for publishing my ordeal; the CP and the DCP for acting promptly.”
Alabede, who said the bribe-seeking policemen had been arrested and were being detained, added that the CP promised that the cops would be tried.
“But the best thing is for the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to reform the force,” he said.
The police spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, declined comment. (Punch)
