Admission seeker laments N20,000 extortion by Osun policemen

An admission seeker, Sodiq Oladebo, who was travelling from Osun State to Benin, Edo State, on Saturday, accused policemen attached to the Osun State Police Command of extortion to the tune of N20,000 along the Ilesa Expressway area of the state.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident happened after the policemen at a checkpoint on the expressway stopped the Sienna vehicle in which Oladebo and other passengers were travelling in.

The policemen, thereafter, searched their bags.

Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, Oladebo said the N20,000 was part of the money he was to use to purchase an Interim Joint Matriculation Board form to process his admission into a university.

He said, “We left Old Garage Park in Osun State, and were going to Benin, Edo State. Our vehicle was stopped by the policemen. They checked the passenger at the front and later asked me to come down from the vehicle to identify my luggage.

“They searched and didn’t find anything incriminating. He took my phone from me, unlocked it but didn’t find anything incriminating on it.

“He returned my phone and said he would take me to the station except I pay N100,000. They had seen N99,000 in my Palm Pay application and my brother gave me the money to purchase the IJMB form.”

According to him, after a series of arguments with the police officers, the cops demanded N20,000.

He added, “I transferred the money to a Point-of-Sale operator whom the officers called to the location and they allowed me to go. The policemen were four and in a black Hilux van. My money is still with them.”

Oladebo’s brother, Suleman, in a chat with our correspondent on Twitter on Sunday, demanded a refund of the money, adding that the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said he would be contacted but no one had contacted him.

A screenshot of the receipt of the transaction obtained by our correspondent showed N20,000 transferred to the Delight Enterprise at 11.34am on Saturday.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, did not pick up calls made to her phone number and had yet to respond to a text message sent to his phone number as of the time this report was filed.

Contacted for a reaction, Adejobi directed our correspondent back to the Osun Police Command.