Officers attached to the Area H Police Command in Ogudu, Lagos State, have reportedly returned ₦2.2 million out of ₦3.33 million ($2,000) extorted from a couple, claiming the remaining balance has already been “shared” among the personnel involved.
The incident began in the early hours of December 18, 2025, when the couple, who were traveling out of Lagos, were intercepted by a police team. According to a report by FIJ, the officers wrongfully arrested the pair, seized their phones, and took them to the Ogudu Police Station.
### **Extortion Under Duress**
Abiodun Alabi (not his real name), a friend of the victims, narrated how the police traumatized the couple. While the pregnant wife was forced to wait outside, the husband was taken into an interrogation room and coerced into writing an incriminating statement without legal representation.
The officers initially demanded $5,000 in USDT (a digital stablecoin). After a heated argument, the husband, acting under duress, agreed to pay $2,000 (approximately ₦3,330,000). The officers provided a crypto wallet address for the transfer and immediately deleted all traces of the transaction from the victim’s phone. However, the victims secured a copy of the transfer receipt through the third-party friend who facilitated the payment.
### **The ‘Resolution’ and Gaslighting**
Following a complaint to the Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU), the victims and Alabi met with Olumide Jegede, the Station Officer (SO) of the Area H Command, on December 23.
Alabi described a surreal scene at the station where the officers who conducted the extortion were identified by the couple. Rather than immediate discipline, the victims were met with gaslighting and threats.
“The leader of the team that robbed them began saying he ‘helped’ the couple,” Alabi told journalists. “He actually asked the man, ‘This money that you gave us, is it from your mind? If you had told us it was not from your mind, we would have left you.’”
When the victims insisted on a full refund, the officers allegedly threatened to involve the cybercrimes unit to investigate the husband for fraud—a common intimidation tactic used to silence victims of police extortion.
### **‘The Money Has Changed Hands’**
The Station Officer, Mr. Jegede, reportedly informed the victims that a full refund would be difficult because the loot had already been distributed among several officers.
The police initially offered to return ₦2.3 million, paying ₦2 million upfront with a promise to pay the balance later. On Wednesday, an additional ₦200,000 was sent to the couple. The officers are now reportedly pleading to keep the final ₦1.1 million, claiming the team leader is “ill” and the funds are no longer available.
When contacted on Saturday, Mr. Jegede declined to comment on the matter, requesting that the press visit his office on Monday for further follow-up.
The Lagos State Police Command has yet to issue an official statement regarding the disciplinary actions taken against the officers involved in the “sharing” of the extorted funds.
