Police officers harassed, extorted me

A Nollywood actress, Didi Ekanem, said she was harassed and extorted recently by some police officers in Lagos State.

Ms Ekanem, according to a report published on Sunday by Punch newspaper, said the police officers, about 10 of them, took on her because she violated traffic regulation.

She said the incident happened on November 18, around the Lekki area of Lagos.

“I admit that I broke the law but it was not deliberate. I made a U-turn at a wrong place because I wanted to rush back to get my ulcer medications,” Punch quoted the actress as saying.

“Before I could complete the turn, some heavily armed task force officials pointed guns at me while shouting. I tried to explain my predicament but they did not hear me out.

“Because they saw that I was a young lady, they felt comfortable bullying and intimidating me. I cried and admitted that I broke the law. I pleaded with them to temper justice with mercy and forgive me. Because I broke the law, they felt justified (to harass me).”

Ms Ekanem said she did not want to introduce herself as an actress, but rather told the officers she was a fashion designer.

She said she was able to capture the faces of the officers in a video.

“There were about 10 of them and one almost touched my breasts while pretending to be friendly.

“When their commander finally came, they told me to talk to him but they eventually drove me to Alausa, Ikeja. I pleaded with him but he started to make sexual advances at me too. He said, ‘I like you – your body, (especially) your buttocks’, and I felt so irritated.

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“At the end of the day, he asked me to pay N200,000 but I could only afford N100,000. I eventually made a bank transfer before they released my car. This ordeal lasted from 9am to 6pm,” the actress said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Popoola Kayode, a deputy superintendent of police, was arrested, alongside his team members, on Sunday over the N100,000 bribe.

The officers’ arrest was prompted by the Punch report, a spokesperson for the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit, Adebayo Taofiq, said in a statement.

Mr Taofiq said the arrested officer, Mr Kayode, was not the commander of the task force as reported in the Punch story.