Four police officers have been detained by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command for allegedly extorting N53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), during an illegal stop-and-search operation in Abuja.

FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the incident on Monday while briefing journalists, describing the officers as criminals who had no place in the Nigeria Police Force.

According to Sanusi, the officers abandoned their assigned duty posts and set up an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex area in Wuse, where they allegedly extorted the ICPC chairman without knowing his identity.

He said the officers forced Aliyu to withdraw N53,000 through a Point of Sale (POS) operator, pay the transaction charges, and then shared the money among themselves.

“They extorted him of N53,000. They took him to a POS, he withdrew the money, paid the charges and they shared the money among themselves,” Sanusi said.

The police commissioner said investigations revealed the officers had formed a criminal gang after leaving their various divisions to operate the illegal checkpoint. He added that the command declared them wanted before arresting the gang leader, whose confession led to the arrest of the other suspects.

Sanusi said the officers would face disciplinary measures, including possible dismissal, if found guilty.

He also reiterated the Inspector-General of Police’s directive prohibiting officers from conducting indiscriminate searches of citizens’ mobile phones during patrols, urging members of the public to reject such unlawful demands and report offending officers through the police emergency lines.

The commissioner assured residents that the command would continue to investigate and punish cases of police misconduct, stressing that officers involved in extortion and other criminal acts would face the full consequences of their actions.