Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa, has ordered the immediate removal of the Divisional Police Officer, D.P.O., of Meiran Police Station.
The order followed alleged involvement in the extortion of N200,000 from two suspects accused of phone theft.
The Public Relations Officer of the police command in Lagos, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, made this known in a post on his Facebook wall.
He said the D.P.O. and other policemen alleged to be involved had been arrested and were at the command headquarters where their orderly room trial had started.
Hundeyin explained that the D.P.O. was charged for “leadership dereliction and supervisory ineptitude.”
His post reads: “CP Idowu Owohunwa has ordered the immediate removal of DPO Meiran for leadership dereliction and supervisory ineptitude.
“Meanwhile, all the officers involved have been identified and are currently at the Command headquarters where their orderly room trial has commenced.”
It would be recalled that The Punch had reported that an engineer, Ibrahim Saliu, alleged that the D.P.O. and his policemen extorted N200.000 from him.
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He alleged that he was detained with his brother by the Meiran police because they could not provide identity cards and receipts for iPhones found in the possession of his brother.
He said the police boss refused to be convinced that he sold phones, and did not allow his officers to go to his shop to confirm his claim and for him to procure the receipts of the phones.
“The DPO took the iPhones, removed the warranty stickers on them, and declared that my brother and I are thieves and armed robbers,” the suspect said.
He alleged that the D.P.O. later asked him and his brother to bail themselves with the sum of N500,000, but later accepted N200,000 after negotiation.
He said the police boss insisted that the money should be paid in cash.
