[size=14pt]Policemen, Alhaji in police net for illegal arrest, extortion I was just an informant - Alhaji[/size]


Written by Oluwatoyin Malik
Sunday, 13 November 2011



Alhaji Razak Olatunji with the phones and laptops allegedly recovered from his group by the police. Photos: Oluwatoyin Malik



The Oyo State Police Command recently arrested four serving policemen working with Force CID, Alagbon who had been coming to the state, on the pretext that they were working on petitions, to carry out indiscriminate arrest and extortion of people they tagged Yahoo boys. Oluwatoyin Malik reports.

MENTION the name, Alhaji Razak Olatunji, and many may not be conscious of the name but once there is a mention of Alhaji Gay, what would follow it would be torrents of comments, mostly negative. This is because of the image the owner of the name had cut for himself. Alhaji Razak had been allegedly notorious for going after people he tagged yahoo boys to extort them. However, he was able to succeed in his illegalities with the assistance of some serving police officers with whom he usually went after his targets.

Alhaji Razak’s modus operandi with the policemen was said to be such that made people to wonder whether they were armed robbers hiding under police uniform and using police weapons to dispossess members of the public of their belongings while pretending to arrest them for fraudulent activities.

It was further gathered that many people had fallen victims of Alhaji Razak’s gang, with their mobile phones, laptops, cash and even car impounded. One of the victims who spoke with Sunday Tribune under the condition of anonymity said his car is still with Alhaji’s group which they told him they had handed over to the EFCC in Lagos.

Alhaji Razak had allegedly perpetrated his criminal acts in different parts of the South Western geopolitical zone, posing as informant for the police and EFCC, and joining the policemen in arresting ‘suspects’. He was said to have been to Ogbomoso, Malaysia, South Africa, Dubai, Ife, Ibadan and other places and had been making a lot of money from this. They were said to usually present a fake petition and warrant of arrest. However, his cup became full on Saturday October 29, 2011 when he was arrested with the policemen working with him by policemen from Monitoring Unit of the Oyo State Police Command.

According to information gathered, on that day, Alhaji Razak had arrived Ibadan on Friday, October 28 with four policemen who left their duty posts at Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, Lagos and three other civilians. Armed with guns, they had allegedly stormed one Segola Guest House at Apata area and broke into one of the rooms where a guest lodged. After ransacking the room, they were said have robbed one Richard Adebayo, alleged of being a fraudster popularly referred to as Yahoo boy, of his United States passport, a Gucci wallet, handsets, laptop, N35,000 and $1,650.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/sun/features/5562-policemen-alhaji-in-police-net-for-illegal-arrest-extortion-i-was-just-an-informant-alhaji