For photographing the beautiful scenery of the Alagomeji Railway, police officers attached to the NRC Police Station in Kajola arrested Francis Alagbe, a photographer, and his friend, and extorted N30,000 from them on Friday....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Alagbe told FIJ that he and his friend were heading to Ebute-Metta but decided to pass through the Alagomeji Railway. Upon observing the environment, they decided to take pictures of the area.
While they were doing so, he said, the police came and arrested them. At the time, they did not know their exact offence, but the police later claimed they were detained for taking pictures of the train, which was illegal.
“But we did not take pictures of the train. The police said it was illegal to take pictures of the area, but no one told us about it, and there was no signpost to communicate this. The next thing they said was that we had to bail ourselves out with N100,000,” Alagbe told FIJ.
He said the police assured them if they paid the amount, they would be freed. However, even if they wanted to pay immediately, he had no money on him.
Alagbe said he called his brother to inform him of his predicament before the police let him use the phone. According to him, his brother sent him N20,000 and negotiated their release with the police. After much discussion, the police agreed to free them for N30,000.
“My brother paid the N30,000. To get the money, the police called in a point-of-sale agent to the station. When the agent arrived, my brother made a transfer,” he said.
“We met five boys in the cell who had also been arrested for taking pictures in the area. The police said they must pay N200,000 to be released.”
FIJ called Muyiwa Adejobi, the Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), for comments. He told FIJ that he would take the matter up. ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
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