* Police identify the forgotten phone belong to a Police Officer
BY IBRAHIM BAKARE
E-Crack Police Officers Their Phone In The Victims Car After Extorting 3 Uniport Undergraduates Of 150K
Police Officers of E-Crack Unit of the Rivers State Police Command who mistakenly forgot their phones in the car of a Student of the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT,after extorting N150,000 from him have been identified.
It was learnt that one of the UNIPORT final year student who gave his name as Victor E, had driven out with his two friends to get food for his sick girlfriend on February,16, 2021, around Rumualogu-Alakahia Car Wash axis in Obio-Akpor Local government area when the officers stopped them for stop-and-search.
The three undergraduates alleged that the officers of Eagle Crack Squad of the Rivers state Police Command of extorted 150,000 naira after threatening them at gunpoint, accusing them of being “yahoo boys”.(Cybercriminals).
Evidence of Phone forgotten and print out of the money transferred.
He alleged that when they were intercepted the Policemen seized their phones and after several arguments and threats to take them to the office Economic Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, or use their machetes to butcher them if they refused to provide them money they had demanded.
He also explained further that after several attempts to take them round some areas, they took them to an ATM machine where they made him to withdraw N120,000 cash which is his bank mandatory daily allowed withdrawal and was compelled to transfer another cash of 30 naira to an account of belonging to one Udoh Favour, provided by the E-Crack Officers.
However,luck ran out the Policemen when one them unfortunately forgot his phone inside their car.
The told Journalists that he quickly switched it off the Tecno Torchlight phone so as not to trace and as an evidence against them.
He appealed to the new CP Eboka Friday to help them recover their money and bring the culprits to book.
In a swift response,the Rivers State Police Command acknowledged receiving the complaint by the three students of University of Port Harcourt and that the Officers indicted had been identified will the full wrath of the law.
The Police Public Relations, Nnamdi Omoni ,the New CP Friday Eboka is committed to tackling issues of corrupt officers.
At the time of filing this report, the Officers involved in the alleged extortion would have been arrested today.
Omoni confirmed that the phone the students got from the car after paying the extorted money to the officers has been traced to a Police Officer(names withheld).
He said the Policemen have been summoned to the Command to come and give details of the money and evidence of payment to one Udoh Favour and that they would be made to pay back the money extorted from the student and face the law.
Our Correspondent reports that this perhaps the first test case of alleged extortion by Police Operatives under the watch of the new CP Eboka Friday, who vowed not condone corruption and professional misconduct.