The Nigerian Police Force has provided details regarding a case in which a group of police officers illicitly acquired ₦43,160,000 from a cargo worker at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja last year.
In a statement released on Wednesday by the NPF Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Ogunjobi, it was revealed that the incident, which took place in August 2023, implicated Inspector Ekende Edwin, Inspector Esther Okafor, and Sergeant Talabi Kayode, all of whom are assigned to the Zone 7 Headquarters.
The officers, under the direction of Inspector Esther Okafor and DSP Peter Ejike, unlawfully apprehended Andrew Ejah, an employee of FATFAD Cargo Nigeria Limited, who was transporting a total of ₦74,950,000 on behalf of clients.
Ogunjobi indicated that the officers acted without proper authorization, detaining Ejah at the Zone 7 Headquarters in Abuja, and falsely reported the amount recovered as ₦31,790,000. They further demanded a portion of the funds to hinder the investigation.
When contacted by the rightful owners of the money, the officers asserted that they had seized ₦31,790,000 from the arrested individual and solicited a share of the funds to compromise the investigation and suppress the case.
In response to their actions, the money owners lodged a complaint with the Force Headquarters in Abuja, which led to the matter being referred to the IGP Monitoring Unit for further investigation.
During the investigation, ₦31,790,000 was retrieved from the officers, who claimed it was the total amount seized from Andrew Ejah at the time of his arrest.
Following thorough investigations and a series of hearings before established disciplinary panels, the NPF revealed that the officers had taken photographs of the suspect and the bags of money at the time of the arrest. However, they later claimed that the phone used for this purpose was damaged and subsequently lost, in an effort to cover up their wrongdoing.
Forensic intelligence revealed that the officers colluded and misappropriated a portion of the funds, totaling N43,160,000. They assigned one of their members the task of transporting the cash out of the Federal Capital Territory for safekeeping until the situation calmed down.
Subsequently, they employed various deceptive tactics to conceal their actions. One such tactic involved disseminating false narratives and misinformation across multiple online blogs and newspaper outlets.
“The Nigeria Police Force has noted with concern the recent allegations circulating in the media, suggesting that the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, is shielding a cartel accused of smuggling suspicious new banknotes from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The NPF categorically refutes these claims, condemning them as baseless and orchestrated attempts to tarnish the IGP’s reputation and the integrity of the Force.
“The incident in question, which occurred at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on August 26, 2023, has been thoroughly investigated. The officers involved – DSP Peter Ejike (a lawyer in charge of Zone 7 Legal Section), Inspector Ekende Edwin, Inspector Esther Okafor, and Sergeant Talabi Kayode, all attached to the Zone 7 Headquarters – were found culpable and sanctioned appropriately.
“These officers have been suspended, being found culpable of serious misconduct, tampering with exhibits, abuse of office, corrupt practice, illegal duty, and acts unbecoming of a police officer. The movement of such an amount of money by the alleged cargo company could have been investigated and handled professionally by the police, but the officers were carried away by greed and therefore acted criminally and unprofessionally.
“It is pertinent to note that the circulating false narrative is a sponsored misinformation cultivated by mischief makers who seek to divert attention from the criminal acts of the police officers by attempting to join issues with the Inspector-General of Police. The affected officers will be prosecuted upon conclusion of due legal and administrative procedures,” the statement added.
The NPF has called upon both the public and the media to avoid disseminating this misleading narrative that seeks to damage the reputation of the Inspector-General of Police.
It emphasized that such misinformation erodes public confidence and hinders the current administration’s initiatives to reform the Police Force by eliminating unprofessional conduct.
