This is not the best time for the Divisional Police Officer of the Meiran Police Station, Lagos State as the State Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa has ordered his removal from the station over alleged extortion.

The removal was as a result of complaints by an engineer, Ibrahim Saliu, who claimed that some policemen attached to the Station extorted N200,000 from him on weekend.

According to Saliu, the officers, alongside the station’s DPO, threatened him and his brother with jail time should they fail to provide receipts for the phones seen with Saliu’s brother.

He said, “The DPO took the iPhones, removed the warranty stickers, and declared that my brother and I are thieves and armed robbers.

“The next thing I heard was the DPO giving them an order to detain us and that we would be locked up for stealing and armed robbery. We were surprised that we started begging.”

Saliu disclosed that he was asked to make a N500,000 payment to secure their freedom. They settled for N200,000, paid in cash owing to the officers’ order.

Spokesperson, Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed the development on his X account formerly known as Twitter. 

Hundeyin on Wednesday, said the CP has ordered the immediate removal of the DPO.

He wrote, “CP Idowu Owohunwa has ordered the immediate removal of DPO Meiran for leadership dereliction and supervisory ineptitude.

“Meanwhile, all the officers involved have been identified and are currently at the Command headquarters where their orderly room trial has commenced.”

The removal has attracted commendations from some social media users.