A Lagos-based industrialist, Emmanuel Madumere, has accused two officers of the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Team of extortion, intimidation and connivance with a Chinese national to defraud him of $58,000 and N18m.
Madumere stated that he asked the foreigner, 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.
But after delivery of the consignment and payment of N18m for clearance at the ports, Madumere said a substantial part of the products, totalling 27,832 rolls, were fake.
Madumere 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 N18m, the cost of clearing the goods at the ports.
He said 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.
Madumere alleged that the policemen freed the foreigner and extorted him (complainant) of N2m under the guise of investigating the matter.
These were contained in petitions to the IG and the Police Service Commission, dated February 17, 2022, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Sunday.
The petition read, “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 requesting an interview through 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 N2m under the pretext of investigations, while shielding Bing whom I believe has compromised them.“
Efforts to get the acting Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, were unsuccessful, as several calls to his telephone line were not answered.
He had also yet to respond to a text message sent to his line as of press time.
The spokesperson for the Police Service Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, said he was not aware of the petition.
When our correspondent placed a call to Bing’s line, it indicated that it was switched off.
A response to a text message to the same line was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
Copyright PUNCH