They labeled him a fraudster and dragged him to Area M Police Command. They intimidated him into writing a statement and wouldn’t allow him leave until they extorted N10, 000 from him. Apparently shaken by the brazen actions of the policemen, Jagz shared his encounter with the men on Facebook. His experience infuriated many Nigerians.
Within days, over 222 people have shared his post, with many commenting that they had had similar experiences at Area M Police Command. When New Telegraph went to Area M Police Command, it was shocking to discover that the two policemen, whom Jagz identified as Godwin Imo, Force number; 384734 and Okah James, Force number; 365635, allegedly doesn’t exist.
According to the Area M Commander, Mr. Joseph Eribo, he had been working there for three months and hadn’t come across policemen with those names. He called his orderly; the lady had been working there for years. She also said she hadn’t come across such names.
Eribo added: “If the complainant was brought into this command, he should have asked for the Area Commander and come to report to me. If he could share his experience on Facebook, it means he’s educated. He should have known there was somebody in charge. I urge him to still come forward and make his complaint.
He should come and help us to identity these policemen. I promise to protect him.” Jagz said that his encounter with the two policemen occurred on December 15, 2015, at about 11am, moments after he left him home, in search of fuel for his car and generator. After the fuel, he decided to drive to an ATM point to withdraw some money. He said: “I got to the Isheri Roundabout, close to Idimu and was about to take the turn when I saw a police vehicle by my side.
One of the policemen was waving. I stopped, thinking they were requesting right of way. I realised he wanted me to park. I parked by the side. A policeman came over and said he wanted to get into the vehicle. I opened the door. He asked who owned the vehicle, I said it was mine. He asked for my vehicle particulars and drivers’ license. I provided all. He confirmed all to be okay.
“He asked me what I do for a living. I replied that I was a civil servant. I also showed him my identity card. I expected him to exit the vehicle at that point, but he asked to see my phone. My two phones were visibly displayed by my side. I asked him why he wanted to see my phone. I felt it was a violation of my privacy. But he insisted. I felt since he returned my vehicle papers, I would get the phones back immediately. At that point, a second police officer walked to the side of my car window. He also requested to see my other blackberry phone.
I complied, knowing I had nothing to hide. It was barely 20 seconds after I gave the second policeman the phone that he asked me who had the email accounts on my blackberry device, I told him I did. “The next thing I heard shocked me. The second policeman made a baseless, unwarranted, logic defying statement.
He accused me of being an online fraudster. How do you stop a man in his car without any proof, any report or prior investigation and label him an online fraudster?”
According to Jagz, he denied the allegation. But in spite of his denials, the second policeman said that he could see two email addresses on the phone, adding that was proof that Jagz was an online fraudster. “I told them that having multiple email addresses was not illegal and didn’t make me an online fraudster.
All this while, my phones were with them. I was told to drive to the police station to clear the accusations. At that point, I knew the police officers were being mischievous.” When they got to the station, rather than leave the car, one of them continued flipping through Jagz’s Facebook messages, pictures, WhatsApp, emails.
Jagz said: “Finally, he said we should get out of the car. He was joined by the second policeman. I was taken to a canteen in the police premise at Idimu Station.
They asked me to explain pictures of my trip overseas, picture of my passport, a letter by COREN which showed that I was certified as a registered engineer, my pictures at work, SMS sent to relatives wishing them happy new month, emails from my bank, chats with a colleague at work who was telling me his travel plans, internal memos from my work place and other private information.”
They told the bewildered man that all the items found on his phone convinced them he was a fraudster. He recounted: “It was a preposterous suggestion, which I kept refuting. But these two policemen were bent on warping the rule of law.”
When he urged them to allow him go, since they had nothing to pin on him, they got angry. They said he was being cocky. The suspect and the policemen argued for almost an hour.
He was then asked to follow them. They threatened they would “show” him. “I was taken to the Anti-Vice office on the first floor of a storey building. I got there and the office had three women and a man that were seated.
By then, the policemen were saying they would deal with me. They saw some emails from a premier online store in Nigeria and asked how I came about that. I explained that I registered on the website and that anyone could do that. At that juncture, the first policeman, Mr. Godwin Imo, said any online business is a fraud.
He said I should provide an ID card from the online store. I said I didn’t have an ID card from the store as someone only needed to register. I tried explaining that just like people were on Facebook, Facebook do not issue ID’s. It was heart-wrenching to see the display of ignorance by officers in this modern world,” said Jagz.
He was ordered to write a statement. He asked why, pointing out that he followed them willingly and hadn’t committed any crime. He recalled that immediately he said that, one of the women in the office shouted that he must write the statement. One of the policemen said: “This is Anti-robbery, not traffic department!”
Jagz said: “Knowing very well the news of how innocent people are paraded as robbers or even dead bodies displayed as robbers killed in gun battles, I decided to tread more softly. At this point, I asked that I be allowed to make a call. To my shock, I was refused. They said I could only make a call after I had written a statement. This was a brazen denial of my basic right.
I told them I was not writing any statement at which they began to sound more menacing, saying they were going to make a case out of this. At this point, Mr. Okah James said I should write a statement and was claiming he would write to the British Embassy that I had a criminal record, including all sorts of threats like writing to the online store.
This only proved to me that these men were highly incapable of critical thinking. I had to be more careful to save my life.” Jagz decided to write the statement. He was filling out the form when Okah James said he should bail himself. He begged them to allow him make a phone call to someone who could ‘help’ him. He was finally allowed. He recollected: “I was allowed to make a call to a family member. Officer Okah James even spoke with my family member. My family member came and vouched for me. Seeing that the person was elderly, they soft pedaled and told lies that I was an online fraudster, claiming to be working with an online store.
A call was put to a police officer known by my family member. The officer spoke with Okah James. After about an hour with the two officers, they said since they had spoken with a superior officer, they would let me go if I paid N10, 000 for fuel. I can only imagine what would have happened if I couldn’t speak up or I was some uneducated persons who had no form of identification.
Worst still, if I had no money to settle them. I feel sad for Nigeria; the very people who should protect and defend us are those who abuse and intimidate us. This is what you get even when you’re law abiding.”
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