A commuter, Oria Folarin has narrated how men of Nigerian police extorted him after they (the policemen) insisted that the face powder in his purse was cocaine and threatened to detain him if he doesn’t pay his way out.
Orie in a report by FIJ was on a trip from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to Ondo State on Thursday when six officers of the Police Reform Unit (PRU) stopped him for a search on the outskirts of Ife, Osun State.
He willfully subjected himself and his vehicle to the search which appeared routine to him. However, things quickly took an awkward turn, as he was made to part with N35,000.
Moments after discovering white particles in his purse and sniffing it, the police officers asked why he had cocaine in his purse.
“I was confused. I started laughing because I wondered how they kept a straight face. They smelled it and knew it was spilled powder; it was just too obvious. But they all claimed it was cocaine,” Folarin told FIJ.
After debating the nature of the substance, the police called in another squad to take Folarin to their station in Ife Central Local Government Area, close to the Ooni’s palace.
The squad collected N15,000 cash from him and then directed him to a POS operator beside the station to withdraw N20,000.
After making the payment, Folarin was allowed to continue his journey.
Yemisi Opalola, the Osun police spokesperson, told FIJ the matter would be investigated.
