- Robbery victims in Nyanya have accused the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Abuja, of collecting N60,000 to launch investigations into the matter
- The victims had received shoddy treatment at a Police station; and thus, proceeded to report the matter to the SARS operatives, who then assigned it to the officer who reportedly asked for the money
- The accused officer reportedly did not deny that he had collected the money; stating that it had been received by his superiors
- The commander in-charge of FSARS, DCP Yusuf Kolo, however said he had not been informed about any such extortion
The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Abuja, has been accused by victims of robbery at Gwandala, New Nyanya, Nasarawa state, of extorting N60,000 from them to conduct an investigation into the robbery attacks on their homes which occurred on May 15.
According to the victims, they were told by the investigating police officer, identified as ASP James Echu, that the money was for “IG approval and fuel” to investigate the robbery, Punch reports.
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NAIJ.com gathers that the complainants said they initially gave the IPO N5,000 for fueling the patrol van and an additional N15,000 for his subordinates. They added that he subsequently collected an additional N40,000 for the IGP’s approval.
One of the victims, Amos Ejiroghene, while explaining his ordeal, stated that the bandits scaled his fence and jumped into the compound around 1.30am. They then broke down his door and asked him and his family members to lie on the floor as they proceeded to ransack the rooms.
After taking N100,000 cash, electronics, phones and other personal belongings, the robbers demanded for the victim’s car key and made their escape in his Toyota Camry after they had attacked two other homes.
He added that the bandits attacked a neighbor with a machete after he was caught trying to leave his residence. He said the man was taken to the Masaka Police Station, but the female officer on duty refused to attend to them, saying they should come back by 10 in the morning.
He stated: “The other residents who were robbed went to the Masaka Police Station around 4am to report the case and collect Police report to enable them to take the injured man popularly called Alhaji to the hospital; but the policewoman on duty said they should come back by 10am. They refused to respond to the distress calls.
“When we got to the station around 12 noon, the policemen on duty said we should come the next day, saying that the lady we met earlier was not around.
“That was when I got angry and I went to see the DPO who said his officers should follow us. They came and saw the scene of the robbery and since then, we didn’t hear from them.”
Ejiroghene said the victims were not pleased with the treatment they received at the Masaka Police Station; and that was why they proceeded to report the matter to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Abuja where it was assigned to ASP James Echu.
He continued: “When we got to SARS, Echu initially demanded N10,000 to buy fuel, that was on May 17. We gave them N5,000 for fuel and N15,000 for his boys. He now said we needed to write a petition to the IG so he could have the authority to interrogate the suspects very well.
“He said it is a lawyer that would write the petition and the lawyer would take N10,000, but I told him I can write the petition. Other robbery victims said we should give him the money.
“He now said that to get a stamp and approval from IG for the investigation is N40,000. He called it ‘IG approval.’ So we decided to give him the money so that he can recover our stolen properties.
“More than four of us were aware of his demand; it wasn’t done in secret and I was the one that handed over the money to him inside the facility there. But till this moment, he has not recovered a pin.
“Altogether, he has collected N60,000: N40,000 for IG approval and N20,000 which we willingly gave him, but he has not recovered anything from the suspects.”
He also disclosed that a suspect identified as Emmanuel who was recognised by a house-help at one of the houses that was raided, was subsequently arrested by Echu who then informed them that he (Emmanuel) has confessed to the crime.
In his words: “A lady who was also robbed led the SARS operatives to pick the suspect identified as Emmanuel on May 18.
“The IPO later informed the lady that the suspect had confessed to the crime and identified about nine other accomplices who participated in the robberies. From that time till now, we have not heard from the Police.
“Anytime we asked the IPO, he would say they were still working on the suspects.
“It was later I found out that the IPO has a 22-year relationship with the suspect’s father and because of that, he has been dilly-dallying over the case. He has also failed to recover any of the stolen properties.”
The IPO however, did not deny that he had collected the money; stating that it had been received by his superiors. He further said the complainants were not serious about the investigation into the robbery case.
He reportedly stated: “Don’t mind them; it was just now that we got their petition. They paid the money for the approval, that is how they go about spoiling people’s names.
“I asked the pressman (one of the victims who is a journalist) to bring the IMEI of the phones that were stolen because we need it in order to get the suspects; but for the past three weeks, he has not shown up.”
“Last Tuesday, he now brought the numbers, about 12 of them. My superior has approved and they are now working on it. Don’t mind them, they are very stupid people, they don’t know what they are doing.
“Had it been they brought the numbers since, we would have apprehended the people that robbed them. They paid the money to my superiors, they should write a petition against me, I would respond to it.”
The commander in-charge of FSARS, DCP Yusuf Kolo, said he had not been informed about any such extortion.
He said: “Tell them (complainants) to come forward and I would ask them to identify the policemen involved, I don’t tolerate such misconduct. Why didn’t they complain to me when we met?
“Immediately they told me about the robbery incident, I asked my men to go after the suspects and we are still carrying out the investigation.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that one Vaughn Itemuagbor, a resident of Rivers state, alleged that he was tortured twice in 2018 by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in the state.
He stated that the officers told him that as a young man driving a car in Port Harcourt, he must be guilty of some crimes.
Lagos CP tells Lagosians what to do to erring SARS officers - on NAIJ.com TV:
Source: Naija.ng