THE Lagos State Police Command, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, dismissed a Police Sergeant identified as Ekpo Shimuyere, attached to the Sogunle Division area of the State, for extorting N98,000 from a young man.
According to media reports, the State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, during a press briefing with journalists, said the Command’s Provost Department had already disrobed the dismissed sergeant.
Hundeyin stated that the victim had complained at the Command that the dismissed Sergeant collected his phone and used a Point of Sale (POS) operator to transfer N98,000 out of the N100,000 in his bank account.
Hundeyin said the officer denied the crime but was placed under detention and an investigation was carried out on his bank account.
In his words: “The police command got the complaint from the victim, and the officer denied the crime when he was contacted. The Command placed him under detention so that he will not tamper with the evidence.
“We wrote to his bank and obtained his statement of account. We were able to trace the money to where the POS operator transferred it before transferring the money to the officer’s account.
“We followed due process to get his account. The victim was invited in the course of the investigation, and he testified.
“The POS operator was also invited, and he said the officer requested him to transfer the money from the victim’s account to another one.
“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos Command, Mr Idowu Owohunwa, has reviewed the orderly room procedure of the officer with Force No. 461654, attached to the Sogunle Police Division and has approved the punishment of dismissal from the force.”
The PPRO then stated that the policeman’s action was contrary to the ethics of the profession, noting that he has been consequently subjected to an orderly room trial in line with extant laws.
