Our officer did not extort N1m from arrested suspects— Abia Police Command

The Abia State Police Command has said that it has been inundated over an allegation trending online by a social media blogger who accused a police officer in Aba of extorting N100,000 as bail from each of 10 arrested suspects on October 4, 2024.

The position of the police was made known on Tuesday evening by the command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Maureen Chinaka, in a press statement she made available to journalists, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police.

According to her, preliminary investigation revealed that on October 3, the Aba Area Command received a complaint through a written petition from the management of Life Stock Feed PLC Aba, where the petitioner alleged that several staff members had misappropriated a substantial amount of money and made away with some production materials from the company.

She noted that based on this complaint, some suspects from the company connected with the crime were arrested for investigation.

ASP Chinaka further said that one Mr. Samuel Okoye, the complainant in the viral post, came to secure bail for 3 of the arrested suspects but the IPO refused to grant bail, insisting that investigation was still ongoing.

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“Mr. Okoye was reportedly infuriated and was said to have threatened to “deal with” the IPO.

The police spokesperson said that the command has since invited Mr. Samuel Okoye, but he has refused to honour the invitation stating that his allegations were made in anger against the IPO and that he has decided to let go.

She went on: “However, one of the arrested suspects confessed that some of his colleagues were in the habit of defrauding the company. The suspect claimed he advised them to desist from such fraudulent acts but never reported them to the company management.”

While promising that Abia State Police Command will not tolerate any form of unprofessional conduct or corruption among its officers, ASP Chinaka warned that it would not tolerate any defamatory act that may tarnish the image of the force.

“The public is hereby advised to verify the accuracy of information before making posts and any defamatory post against the command will be met with appropriate legal action,” she warned.