Some commercial motorcycle riders have accused some policemen attached to the Amukoko Divisional Headquarters in Lagos State of extortion and unlawful impound of their motorcycles.
In three separate petitions through the iRelief Committee for Human Rights and Civic Engagements, addressed to the state Commissioner of Police, the motorcyclists accused the personnel of collecting between N20,000 and N100,000 before releasing their seized motorcycles.
One of the petitioners, Mr Odutayo Waris, who is also painter, explained that at about 11:30 pm on August 29, 2025, while on his way to a vigil at Safejo, in the Amukoko area of the state, a policeman arrested him at a bus stop and detained him overnight without explanation.
He said a total sum of N40,000 was paid to another policeman identified as Okunade Oludayo, before he was released the following day.
According to him, the policeman received N20,000 from Waris’ mother in cash, while another N20,000 was sent to him via a recommended Point of Sale agent.
A photo of the payment receipt to one Opay account with the name, Najeeb Opeyemi Muyideen, was made available to newsmen.
When contacted for comment, the accused policeman, Oludayo, denied the allegations, saying he was unaware and could not confirm whether or not Waris Odutayo was arrested.
He said, “I’m not familiar with that name. What I want to say to that is that I wasn’t the one who arrested him, and I don’t know the person who did. I’m just telling you that nothing like that happened.
“If at all, he was arrested, I was not the one who led the operation from the station. But the only thing I can confirm to you is that we do raiding, and it is only the task force that conducted it. The question about whether he was arrested or not I can’t say.
When asked about the extortion, Oludayo responded by saying, “My brother, they are just using all these accusations to find a way of implicating people. I know that you people are for justice, and if at all he was arrested, I can’t deny that one.
That place, Safejo, where he said he was arrested, is a hotspot for crime. Some people were robbed a few days ago, and their phones and other things were collected from them.”
Meanwhile, commercial motorcyclists, Shazali Ibrahim, and Umar Husaini, alleged that their motorcycles were seized on the 27th and 28th of August, 2025, respectively.
Ibrahim claimed that his motorcycle was seized by a man called Shidi, who worked with a policeman, Ishaku Babaji, to get hold of the motorcycle.
He narrated that the motorcycle was seized at Mosafejo Bus Stop, Amukoko, around 9:40 pm, while riding home after the day’s work, claiming that he was forced to pay N50,000 at the station to retrieve his bike.
He said, “First of all, as police, we don’t talk individually. If you want to hear anything, you’ll come to the PPRO or the DPO of the station. When a directive is given to arrest a bike, it is carried out by the task force, while the seized motorcycles are taken to the headquarters in Ikeja.
“The DPO will show you the signals the task force receives to carry out the task, especially for late-hour and one-way traffic…. I’m not aware of collecting money.”
In the third petition, an officer named Augustine Ada was accused of confiscating the motorcycle of another rider, Umar Hussaini.
According to the petition, Hussaini claimed that his motorcycle was seized a few minutes to 10 pm by the policeman, who claimed that he (Hussaini) violated the 10 pm curfew.
Hussaini explained that following the arrest, he immediately informed Abubakar Abdulkadir, who was the legitimate owner of the motorcycle, a few minutes to 10 pm via a telephone call.
In a conversation with Saturday PUNCH, the accused policeman said, “If anybody tells you this, the person is lying. I didn’t know him or have issues with the owner of the motorcycle before the arrest.
“How would we arrest somebody around 8 pm or 9 pm? What is my gain in doing that? We seized the motorcycle at exactly 10:30 pm or more along Coker Express.
“They came to meet me, but before anything happened, the motorcycle had been videoed and the clip was sent to the headquarters. I don’t know the man, so why would I seize his motorcycle if he did not commit any offence?”
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the iRelief Committee for Human Rights and Civic Engagements, Momoh Raimi, in separate petitions, demanded a probe into the alleged professional misconduct of the policemen by the by the state Police Command
He warned that such alleged misconduct could provoke public anger similar to the 2020 EndSARS protests.
However, when contacted, the spokesperson of the state Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, said she was not aware of the petitions on the matter, and promised to contact her deputy, Babaseyi Oluseyi.
