Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

ICPC, FRSC, DSS joint team arrests 37 corps’ officials, five others over extortion

By Matthew Ogune, Abuja
20 August 2019   |   4:15 am
A joint inter-agency team led by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested 37 officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) for allegedly extorting motorists on Nigerian highways.

[FILE PHOTO] ICPC Spokesperson and Director, Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa

A joint inter-agency team led by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested 37 officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) for allegedly extorting motorists on Nigerian highways.

ICPC Spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said the team, comprising officials of ICPC, FRSC and the Department of State Services (DSS), also arrested five persons said to be agents of the corps’ officials in a sting operation carried out simultaneously in the six geo-political zones.

Okoduwa maintained that the team struck on Friday, August 16, 2019, following the receipt of a complaint from the management of the Corps of massive extortion from motorists on the highways by its patrol teams, adding that the FRSC management had, in the complaint to the commission, observed that incidents of extortion were rife in the six states of Kaduna, Bauchi, Abia, Rivers, Kogi and Ogun.

She said that the ICPC-led team went into action and identified the notorious spots in each of the aforementioned states to include Aba in Abia State; Ahoada, Ajaokuta, Itori, Torro and Gwantu in Rivers, Kogi, Ogun, Bauchi and Kaduna states respectively.

“Thirteen FRSC officials and two civilians were arrested in Aba in the South-East while 24 other FRSC officials and three civilians were arrested from various spots on roads spread across the other geo-political zones

“Findings from the joint inter-agency team indicated that various sums of money were found on the arrested corps officials during the sting operations before they were taken into ICPC custody.“However, all the officials arrested and three civilian accomplices have been granted administrative bail, and will be prosecuted by the commission at the conclusion of investigations,” Okoduwa further said.

0 Comments