The Lagos State Task Force has said it is investigating the alleged extortion of a Nigeria Customs Service officer by its officers.
PUNCH Metro reported on Wednesday that the Customs officer, who identified himself simply as Cyril, accused the task force officials of extorting him N200,000 at their head office in the Bolade area of Lagos State.
He said this was after they caused damage to his car while they accosted him at Liverpool in the Apapa area of the state.
The task force spokesperson, Raheem Gbadeyanka, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said an investigation had commenced into the incident.
He also urged the victim to come forward to identify the officers alleged to have collected the money from him.
He said, “We are already looking into the matter to identify the officers. We also want the Customs officer to please come to our office to help in our investigation officers so that appropriate actions can be taken.”
Narrating his experience after the incident, Cyril said he was driving inward the Mile 2 area and on getting to the Warehouse Road junction, he discovered that he could no longer proceed as the road was closed down with some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority manning the point.
He further noted that while the encounter lasted, the officials crashed into an SUV, damaging the bumper and headlamp in the process of also arresting the person.
The customs officer however lamented that the officials demanded a sum of N200,000 from him in their office at the Bolade area of the state.
“When I got to their office, they asked me to pay a fine and mentioned a sum of N200,000. I was surprised. While I agreed to pay and expected that the payment would be paid into the government’s account, they asked me to pay in cash. That was when I realised that the act must have been deliberate.
“I believe the act was a deliberate one because of the turn of events. The road was blocked, there was no other route. They arrested me on the only available route and extorted N200,000 which I believe could not even be traced by the government.”
