Rivers Police investigate officers over alleged abduction, extortion

The Police Command in Rivers says it is investigating some policemen alleged to have forcefully abducted and extorted a resident of N620,000 at gunpoint. The command’s Spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday, said the command would not shield the officers from prosecution if found guilty. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the victim, identified as Daniel was allegedly abducted at about 9 p.m. by suspected policemen while he was returning to his home in Port Harcourt. Reports said the police officers beat and forcefully took the victim to a remote village outside the city and withdrew N620,000 from his bank account with the help of an accomplice POS vendor. Iringe-Koko said the Commissioner of Police in Rivers, Nwonyi Emeka was worried by the reports and had ordered full investigation to apprehend the corrupt cops. “Our attention has been drawn to an alleged extortion of N620,000 by some men said to be police officers wearing mufti along Sani Abacha Road in Port Harcourt. “Nwonyi Emeka takes misconduct seriously and is concerned about the reported incident, hence, investigation is underway to prosecute the personnel if found guilty,” she said. The police spokesperson said the commissioner of police had assured that he would never protect any personnel found to be culpable of any criminal offence in the state. “So, this matter will not be swept under the carpet as any policemen involved in crime would be prosecuted accordingly. “The affected person should come to the command headquarters at Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, to report the matter to enable us fish out the culprits,” Iringe-Koko stated. (NAN)