The Kwara State Police Commissioner, Kayode Egbetokun, yesterday, said any police officer on the highway found engaging in any form of extortion while bearing firearms “completes the ingredients of the offence of armed robbery.”
He said such officers would be arrested, detained, tried and dismissed from the service if found guilty.
Egbetokun, who stated this in Ilorin while addressing senior police officers in the state, criticised patrol officers who were allegedly found to be indulging in such act while performing their duties on the highways in the state.
He was speaking against the backdrop of the reported cases of police extortion on highways through searching personal belongings of motorists, especially mobile phones.
He said, “Although they have the responsibility to conduct stop and search, but it is unethical to seize and start searching anybody’s mobile phones on the roads.
“The practice of searching the mobile phones of an individual on the road for evidence of internet fraud amounts to conducting roadside investigation.”
He said such attitude had become a criminal offence if it ended in extortion or was done with the intent to extort.
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