Three brothers, Kamal Iyanda, Waheed Iyanda, and Omololu Iyanda, have accused officers of the Lagos State Police Command of extorting N63,000 from them.
One of the brothers, Kamal, said that the police officers enforcing the Okada ban in the Aguda area of Surulere allegedly made them pay the amount after they were detained for hours in the cell at Soloki Station in Aguda where they were taken to.
Kamal said the incident happened last Wednesday while their car broke down and they needed to board the bike.
Narrating, Kamal said, “We were three. We got arrested around 4 pm. They granted us bail around 10 pm. We were put in the cell. Our car broke down, so we took it to the mechanic. We went to eat at Pako, and when we were returning, we were so tired and decided to take a bike. The bike man said he could take the three of us, so we (boarded) the bike.”
Kamal said after some distance, a guy whistled at the bike man and he was going to wait, but they had to tell him not to wait since he would not be able to carry any other passenger with the three of them.
“But he (the bike man) said he knew them and wanted to settle them. When he stopped, those guys came to meet us, (we realised) they were policemen and they arrested us. Before we got to the place (police station), they said we should pay N100,000. We said we had just N10,000 to pay. They said no. They said they would take us to the station. We thought it was a joke, and when they took us to the station, they said they wanted N200,000,” he said.
Kamal added that the policemen began negotiating the amount with their sister who later arrived at the station when she was called.
She paid N60,000 and another N3,000. She paid cash. They (the policemen) said they didn’t want a transfer payment but cash.”
Speaking with our correspondent, the sister, Rafiat, said, “When I got there, they said they caught the three of them on a bike. I asked why they arrested the passengers alongside the Okada man, they said that’s the law: to arrest the passenger and the Okada man.”
Rafiat said when she asked them what was next and that she wanted to bail them, “The officers said I should go and bring N150,000 and that they were only helping me, if not, they would take them to court. I was begging them that I didn’t have N150,000. They pushed me outside when I said I had just N20,000. They embarrassed me and seized my phone.”
She said they eventually accepted N60,000 from her, but she later paid another N3,000 at the counter.
“When I asked for an account number, they said they don’t take transfers and that I should withdraw it from the Point of Sale machine.”
A resident in the area, who gave his name simply as Taofeek, said when he heard of the incident, he put a call across to the Aguda Divisional Police Officer, Oriloye Shederack, who maintained that Okada had been banned in the area.
Taofeek said, “I then asked him, ‘Was that why they have extorted the sum of N63,000?’ He had nothing to say to that, instead, he insisted I come to his office.”
The DPO, Oriloye, also said, “Somebody called me a few days ago and I asked them to come to the station.”
“There are so many people who were detained at the station. If there’s anything, come to the DPO and find out, they will check, and they will be identified. Let the person come to me, I will investigate. I won’t condone indiscipline. Let the victim come and identify the person who collected money from him,” the DPO insisted.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, when contacted, asked to be sent a text message. He has yet to respond to the text and other calls made to his line on Saturday and Sunday.
The state government had in 2022 extended the ban on Okada to four more Local Government Areas and five Local Council Development Areas.
The state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had directed full enforcement from September 1, 2022. This followed the February 2020 restriction placed on the activities of commercial motorcycles in six LGAS including Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island, and Apapa.
The additional councils where the total Okada ban was pronounced included Kosofe Local Government, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government, Somolu Local Government, and Mushin Local Government.
Others are Ikosi-Isherri LCDA, Agboyi-Ketu LCDA, Isolo LCDA, Bariga LCDA, and Odi-Olowo LCDA.