By Ada Okafor
Even as more sordid deeds allegedly perpetrated by the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Team are being exposed, a Lagos-based industrialist, Chief Emmanuel Madumere, has accused two officers of the Team of extortion.
He also made allegations bothering on intimidation and connivance with a Chinese national to defraud him of $58,000 and N18 million.
Chief Madumere in the allegations stated that he asked the foreigner, Mr. Eric Bing, to supply him three four-foot containers of 11 tonnes of speaker wires at the rate of $1.47 per roll in 2012.
However, according to him, after delivering the consignment and payment of N18 million for clearance at the ports, Madumere said a substantial part of the product supplied to him, totalling 27,832 rolls, were fake.
He said he returned the products to Bing’s company with an agreement that he would refund him for the loss, which stood at $84,310, as well as the sum of N18 million, being the cost of clearing the goods at the wharf.
Madumere said when the issue could not be resolved he, he reported the matter to the police, accusing the duo of CSP Dalatu Usman and Clifford Agboji attached to the IGP Monitoring Team, of aiding Bing in the infamous act instead of performing their duties professionally.
He alleged that the policemen not only discharged and freed the foreigner but extorted him (complainant) of N2 million under the guise of investigating the matter.
All the allegations were contained in petitions addressed to the IGP and the Police Service Commission (PSC), dated February 17, 2022.
According to him: “My predicament started in 2012 when we entered into a transaction of sale of speaker wires with Navigator Production Limited owned by a Chinese national, Mr Eric Qi Bing.
“This resulted in Navigator selling three containers of 40-foot 11 speaker wires at the rate of $1.47 per roll to me.
“After the delivery of the consignment, we discovered that a substantial quantity of the products totalling 27,832 rolls were fake.
“For this reason, they were not of merchantable quality and unfit purpose.
“This made all our customers return the same after sale, thus getting us into a huge loss.
“We then returned these fake products to Navigator in expectation of it refunding us with its cost which stood at $84,310.1.
“As a law abiding citizen, I approached the Nigeria Police Force through the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit.
“The police invited Mr. Eric Bing on February 16, 2016 through a letter signed by one ACP Ben Nebolisa, asking him yo interview one CSP Dalatu Usman.
“Mr Bing was subsequently arrested in the North after he was tracked.
“To my greatest surprise, rather than the police make Mr. Bing pay my money or charge him to court, the police let Mr. Bing off the hook, refunding me a paltry sum of $10,000.
“Several efforts by me to make the police, led by CSP Dalhatu Usman and Clifford Agboji, to re-arrest Mr. Eric Bing or his guarantor, Mr. Paul Kaiz, has been unsuccessful.
“Rather, the two police officers have fraudulently extorted money from me to the tune of about N2 million under the pretext of investigations, while shielding Bing whom I believe has compromised them.“
Efforts to get the acting Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi to comment on this matter did not yield any fruitful result.
The spokesperson for the Police Service Commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, said he was not aware of the petition. (Additional reports from The Punch).
