Five officers of the Ghana Police Service are in the grips of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command over allegations of extortion to the tune of GHC40, 000.
The suspects’ victims were two people from Accra, and their arrest was triggered by a complaint of alleged extortion in two separate cases on May 25, 2021 during patrol duties.
The Accra Regional Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Effia Tenge, who disclosed this, cautioned that the Service would not shield any officer “who hides in the uniform to perpetrate crimes against members of the community.”
Briefing the media, she said the suspects are currently in police custody assisting with investigations. She assured the public that the Command would provide further updates on the matter in due time.
The suspects have been identified as General Lance Corporal Redeemer Agama and General Constables Wishwell Odoo, Evans Arawassi, Lawal Agyapong and Sena Kurvodu.
The extortion
The police, in a statement, said on May 21, 2021, a report was received at the Kaneshie Police Station to the effect that around, 2:00 am, one of the victims was on board an Uber commercial vehicle from Madina to Airport. Five police officers, who were armed and on board an ‘Operation Calm Life Police’ vehicle, intercepted the Uber vehicle at the UPSA road.
According to the statement, the officers accused their victim of being a fraudster and arrested him, while they dispatched the Uber vehicle to go, resulting in the victim being stranded.
The victim reported that the police officers forced him to transfer an amount of GHC 20,000 into a mobile money account. Still stranded, they abandoned him to his fate.
In yet a similar incident, the Police Command further indicated that a report was made at the Achimota Police station by a complainant who said at 11:23 pm on the same day, he was driving in an unregistered Mercedez Benz when he was stopped by three policemen at Haatso, off the Atomic-Madina road.
“According to the complainant, the policemen searched his car, after which he was arrested on grounds of being a cyber-fraudster. He was then escorted to Silver Star towers at Airport and forced to withdraw a sum of GHC 20,000 from his ATM for them,” it added.
The incidents come at the back of efforts by the police administration to rid the Service of unscrupulous officers who are abusing their uniform and badge to bully innocent people and extort monies from them.
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