Police commissioner in trouble, group insists he supervises his men in extorting money from motorists

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– A group has alleged that the Delta state commissioner of police, Zanna Ibrahim, encourages extortion of money from motorists in Delta state

– The group, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, said the commissioner came to Delta, extortion of motorists has grown beyond the situation he met

– Chairman of the group, Prince Kehinde Taiga, said the Inspector General of Police needs to explain whether it is lawful for police to extort money from motorists on the highway

A human rights group, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, weekend, came hard against the Delta state commissioner of police, Ibrahim Zanna, alleging that he is fully in support of extortion of commercial vehicle drivers, okada and tricycle riders by his officers in Delta state.

In a meeting which was exclusively attended by ZENITHBLOG.com in Warri, Delta state, chairman of the group, Prince Kehinde Taiga, and his members alleged that the commissioner had paid deaf ears to the call to caution his men as they are fond of extorting money from helpless commercial drivers and tricycle riders in every nook and cranny of the state.

In their separate presentations, the members alleged that police officers in Warri, Asaba and other major towns even villages have allegedly connived with the state police commissioner to forcefully extort money from the innocent people of the state.

Members of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in a meeting in Warri where the group declared Delta police commissioner encourages extortion

Some of the members specifically accused the police division in Ovwian in Udu local government area of conniving with the vigilante group in the area, arresting people, instilling fear into them and allegedly collect money from them for their personal use.

Members of the group gave various experiences they have had with the police, especially in Warri area of the state.

Prince Taiga argued that he has evidence against the state police commissioner that he is encouraging extortion in the state, noting that since he was transferred to the state, extortion has increased among members of the police force.

Taiga said prior to the posting of the new police commissioner to the state, his group had a discussion with the former commissioner, notifying him of an intending protest against the Nigerian police over extortion of members of the public.

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He said: “We wrote letters to the present police commissioner, he shunned the letter, he did not give it any thought. On the last day we had the last state wide rally in Asaba, we wanted to see him, we called him, he refused to pick our calls.

“We believe the commissioner is in support of extortion in the state. He is part and parcel of the extortion. We are now going to write to the Inspector General of Police to tell us whether the police have right to collect money from members of the public, especially commercial transporters, tricycle riders and okada riders in the state.”

He said though there is a human rights desk in the Nigerian police force, he alleged that the human rights desk extort money from people at the police station, adding that the rot in the police force will not give way for the officers to change for good.

Taiga gave instances of police collecting N50 from tricycle riders, even the tricycle he boarded within the city of Warri on Saturday, April 15 the day the meeting was held in Warri.

He mentioned one officer Lucky Utumude on Safe Highway patrol team vehicle with number 0012 who requested money from the driver but the driver refused to give him money.

He added: “Out of anger he asked the driver to park

which he did. That was when I was coming. I thereafter confronted him and asked him why he did that, he told me I have no right to ask him and I can’t do him anything. I’m going to sue the officer to court for such action against the innocent driver.”

Group lays grievous allegation against Delta police commissioner, insists he supervises his men in extortion business

He also accused police of not wearing uniform while on highway. He said many of them wear T-shirt and collect money from motorists on the road.

“We want to also know whether it has been passed into law that police should not wear uniform on the road. How does one identify who is who if a police is not wearing uniform on the road.

“Some of them have vehicles with different names attached to them. These are different ways police officers extort money from innocent people on the road. This habit must stop,” Taiga said.

The police have severally been accused by members of the public over extortion of money on the highway. The extortion is usually from commercial drivers, commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders in both cities and villages.

At other times, it is done at night at special street corners, rather than search for qualifying papers, the police resort to compelling the drivers to part with either N50 or N100 at different spots of the road.

One defense the police authorities have held onto is the fact that there is no substantial evidence to prove that police extort money from motorists and cyclists.

They have always given excuse of no report and even if there is any report, they demand for an officer’s name caught in the act before action could be taken.

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They fail to agree that the motorists and cyclists do not do it willingly but out of fear of being delayed unnecessarily or getting their vehicles and motorcycles confiscated by the police.

A few years back, an Inspector General of Police banned police officers from staging road blocks on the highway and outlawed collection of N20 from motorists and motorcycle riders.

But soon, the law relaxed and the police returned to the highway and the crime commenced in earnest. As soon as the crime started, the fee graduated from N20 to N50 and at other times they collect N100 from the drivers.

Drivers and motorcyclists in the rural communities and tricycle riders are the worse hit. At night, tricycle riders are made to part with their money hiding under the darkness in some parts of the roads, while okada riders in the villages have always parted with N100, almost losing half of their entire earning per day to the police officers on the village roads.

But when ZENITHBLOG.com contacted the Delta state police commissioner, Ibrahim Zanna, over the allegations that he is encouraging and supporting his men in the extortion business, he denied the allegation, saying it was unthinkable of him to take part in such a criminal action.

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