The Lagos State Police Command has arrested four policemen for robbing a software developer, whom they accused of being an Internet fraudster.
The spokesman for the command, Bala Elkana, told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the cops were being interrogated at the command headquarters, Ikeja.
He noted that three other civilians, suspected to have been involved in the incident, had also been arrested.
“We have the four policemen in custody. We have also arrested three other civilians as well. Investigation is ongoing,” Elkana added.
The software developer, with the Twitter name, Toni_, had yet to respond to enquiries from our correspondent as of press time.
However, in a series of tweets on Saturday, he accused the policemen of detaining and extorting money from him after accusing him of Internet fraud.
He tweeted, “I grabbed a bike via one of the bike-hailing services in Nigeria from the Abiola Gardens (Ojota) to Ketu so I could get a BRT from there home.
“About getting to Ketu, two men in police-like uniform stopped the bike and told me to get down. I immediately did, with the mindset that the bike guy did something wrong.
“They asked for my phone and I unlocked it and gave them. They told the bike guy to end the trip and go. So, they gave me my phone to pay the guy from the mobile app. After 20 seconds, they said I was going with them to the station. And I was like, what station?
Next thing, they pointed guns at my leg, telling me to enter another bike they stopped and go with them to their station. I entered and one of the men asked for N1m and he’d let me go.
And I was like, N1m? Where would I get that from? I told him I was not what he thought. I’m a software developer at this company. He said everything na yahoo yahoo still. He physically harassed me on the bike still. To every onlooker on the street, I was a criminal or some sort.”
