The Police Commissioner in Delta State Police, Aina Adesola, has ordered the redeployment of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Jesse Division, Chidi Nwabuzor, for allegedly extorting N2.5 million from a woman in exchange for the release of her detained brother.
The police spokesperson in the state, Bright Edafe disclosed this in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.
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Mr Edafe said the redeployment of the DPO followed a viral video in which the woman alleged that “one officer Bright, officer Usman and the DPO Jesse extorted from her N2.5 million with the hope that her brother, who is in custody, will be released.”
Background to the arrest
According to the police, on 1 January 2026, the youth leader of Jesse community arrested some suspects and brought them to the police station. Among them was the woman’s younger brother, later identified as Israel Onojeruo, 20.
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Mr Edafe said Mr Israel was arrested “based on the confession of another suspect, Okoro Desmond, who stated that he sold a gun to Israel Onojeruo.” The suspects were subsequently transferred to the State Anti-Cult Unit (SACU) for further investigation.
The police commissioner, Mr Adesola, ordered an assistant commissioner of police in charge of X-Squad to investigate the extortion allegation.
“The constable identified as Bright in the video has been detained at the command headquarters, and the DPO has been removed and deployed to the command headquarters pending the outcome of the investigation,” the police said.
Mr Edafe added that there had been several complaints of extortion and unprofessionalism against the DPO.
Mr Adesola assured the public that “If, after investigation, the officers are found to have acted in an unprofessional manner, they will be decisively dealt with in accordance with the extant laws as stipulated in the Police Act and regulations to serve as a deterrent to others.”
He stressed that the command will not tolerate any form of extortion, intimidation, or incivility to members of the public from officers.
Not the first time
It is a commonplace to see police operatives at their facilities or checkpoints across Nigeria extort helpless citizens.
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The latest incident occurred less than a week after Joseph Udoh, the DPO of the GRA Police Station in Delta was summoned by the police authority for alleged intimidation and extortion of a Nigerian who helped a dying stranger.
In 2024, the police arrested officers for allegedly extorting $13,000 from Nigerians, this newspaper reported.
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