Lagos CP Recovers Phone Dealer’s N2.6m from Rogue Policemen
Following a report by Deji Lambo on the ordeal of 26-year-old phone dealer Hamzat Uthman, who accused three policemen of extorting money and iPhones worth N2,695,000, the Lagos State Police Command has recovered most of the items from the errant officers and returned them to the victim.
As of the time of filing this report on Monday 7th April 2025, the only item remaining is an iPhone 11 Pro Max, which the police held as an exhibit on the claim that it was a stolen phone that another phone dealer, Hope Chikaodiri, aka LaMuna, sold to Uthman’s colleague, Yissah Alabi, who, on Uthman’s behalf, sold the phone to his customer, Kolawole Salaudeen.
Speaking after recovering the other phones and the N725,000 extorted from him, Uthman, who was overwhelmed with joy, expressed gratitude to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, and the state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, for their prompt intervention.
He said, “I would like to thank the CP, DCP, and the PPRO for coming to my aid. I felt the whole money and phones were gone, and I was already depressed because I was in serious debt.
“But for their intervention, they have made me realised that there are some capable and good policemen in the Nigeria Police Force. I appreciate them for recovering those items for me. May God bless them abundantly.
“I also want to thank Deji Lambo for giving me hope and the platform to cry out to the nation and the Nigeria Police Force for me to recover my items. On the remaining phone with the police, the person who sold the phone is Chikaodiri, aka LaMuna.
“He is still operating at Computer Village. I want the police to arrest him so he can explain where he got the phone or give us another phone or refund the money we paid to him so we can settle with my customer, Mr Kolawole Salaudeen.”
In an earlier report, Uthman alleged that three policemen, Samson Adah, Ahmed Akhigbe, aka Alhaji, and one other identified simply as Odogwu, who are attached to the Tactical Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, arrested him because of the iPhone 11 Pro Max valued at N475,000, which his colleague, Alabi, sold on his behalf to Salaudeen.
After Salaudeen purchased the phone, Uthman said he reached out a few days later requesting to buy an iPhone 13 and a 12 Pro Max valued at N800,000 and N700,000 each for his boss but was arrested for selling the iPhone 11 Pro Max to Salaudeen.
Thereafter, the 26-year-old claimed that the policemen collected N700,000 as bail to release him and Alabi and N25,000 to hire an Uber driver to convey them from their office in the Second Rainbow area of Amuwo Odofin to the Computer Village in Ikeja to arrest Chikaodiri, whom Alabi said the policemen refused to arrest.
Recalled to the background of the story which was first reported detailed with headline; 26-year-old Phone Dealer Accuses Lagos Policemen of N2.6m Extortion, Cries Out Over Debt.
“Cops seized my iPhones, forced me to give them receipt, collected N700,000 bail”
A businessman, Hamzat Uthman, has accused three policemen attached to the Tactical Squad of the Lagos State Police Command of defrauding him of money and valuables worth N2,695,000.
Uthman, during an interview with DEJI LAMBO, identified the policemen as Samson Adah, Ahmed Akhigbe, aka Alhaji, and one other identified only as Odogwu.
The 26-year-old explained that the officers arrested him because of the iPhone 11 Pro Max valued at N475,000, which his colleague, Yissah Alabi, sold on his behalf to one of his customers, Kolawole Salaudeen.
After Salaudeen purchased the phone, Uthman said he reached out a few days later requesting to buy an iPhone 13 Pro Max and an iPhone 12 Pro Max valued at N800,000 and N700,000 each for his boss.
He said, “I got the two phones on credit from two phone dealers at Computer Village. The plan was to pay them after selling the phones, but when I got to Mr. Salaudeen, he told me policemen said the iPhone 11 Pro Max that Alabi sold to him on my behalf was stolen.
“When I met the three policemen from Tactical Squad, Samson Adah, Alhaji Ahmed Akhigbe, and one Odogwu, they said the phone was stolen along with an iPhone 12 Pro Max, a laptop, and N270,000. So, they seized Mr. Salaudeen’s iPhone 11 Pro Max, arrested me, and took me to their office around the 2nd Rainbow area in Amuwo Odofin, where my dad had been waiting for us on Friday, March 14, 2025.
“On getting there, the policemen also seized the two phones I wanted to sell to Mr. Salaudeen’s boss. I kept saying the person Alabi got the phone from was at Computer Village, but they demanded N1.5m bail and insisted on putting me in a cell till Monday, March 17, 2025, if I didn’t pay.
“My dad and I had to negotiate till the money was reduced to N500,000 that we paid through a PoS operator, who gave them cash, and I have the receipt. They also told me to write a statement pledging to provide Alabi.”
After bringing Alabi to the station on Monday, Uthman said the policemen demanded he book a ride to transport Alabi and the three of them to arrest the original owner of the phone that Alabi sold on his behalf to Mr. Salaudeen.
The 26-year-old explained that the original owner of the phone was Hope Chikaodiri, adding that Alabi got the phone from one of his salesboys, Daniel Adeshola, who also admitted getting the phone from Chikaodiri’s shop at Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Uthman noted that things, however, took another turn when the policemen, upon sighting Chikaodiri, said they knew him, and instead of initiating the arrest, claimed that Chikaodiri reportedly took the policemen alongside Alabi to a lounge in Ikeja to have fun.
He said, “I didn’t go with them for the arrest. It was Alabi who called to inform me that the policemen were having fun with the phone dealer instead of arresting him.
“Alabi said the policemen said if they knew he was the one he got the phone from, they wouldn’t bother looking for him because they knew him well enough to not engage in stealing.
“So, when they returned to the station, I asked why they refused to arrest Chikaodiri and the policemen said they didn’t arrest him because Alabi paid money directly to Chikaodiri’s salesboy, Daniel Adeshola, and not him.”
The Ogun State indigene said he asked why the policemen didn’t direct Chikaodiri to provide Adeshola, but they said Adeshola was not around and demanded N500,000 as bail for Alabi.
“I became angry and asked for the complainant or petition for the stolen phone,” Uthman said. “But the policemen said the petitioner was unavailable and refused to show me, Alabi, and our relatives the written petition.
“They were just demanding N500,000 bail for Alabi, and while initially checking my bag and seeing the receipt I intended to use for the two phones I wanted to sell to Mr. Salaudeen’s boss, they forced me to issue them a receipt for the seized iPhone 13 and 12 Pro Max to indicate that I sold the phones to them.
“The policemen said they would use the phones to replace the laptop, N270,000, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max that was stolen alongside the phone Alabi sold on my behalf to Mr. Salaudeen and also refused to release Mr. Salaudeen’s phone.”
While demanding justice, Uthman accused the policemen of defrauding him and appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Moshood, to help him.
“I want the CP to help me. These policemen defrauded me, and I want justice, a return of all the seized phones, and a refund of the money they collected as bail. I have receipts of the payments made, including the money that was paid into the bank account of one of the policemen, Ahmed Akhigbe.
“I am in serious debt. I got the two iPhones that the policemen forced me to write a receipt for to indicate that I sold the phones to them on credit, and the owners of the phones have been on my neck. I need help,” Uthman said.
When DEJI LAMBO contacted Salaudeen, who is a customs officer, on Tuesday to ascertain how he got to know that the iPhone Alabi sold to him on Uthman’s behalf was a stolen phone, he said the policemen informed him, adding that they got his number from a plumber.
He said, “One of my colleagues was the one that sent the plumber on an errand around Mile 2 or Oshodi area. The plumber said he was at a bus stop to board a bus when the policemen raided and arrested him.
“So, he needed help for his release, and my number was part of the two numbers he gave the policemen to contact, whereas I was not the person who sent him on an errand.
“So, when the policemen got my number, it appeared like they inserted it into their system, and it brought out the details of the iPhone I was using. So, they contacted me that the iPhone was a stolen phone, and I told them I had proof of where and from whom I bought the phone.
“The case of the plumber’s arrest is completely different from that of the iPhone they claimed was stolen. The policemen have not returned the phone to me and the two other iPhones Uthman wanted to sell to my boss. And they know the shop owner (Chikaodiri) where the phone that they claimed was stolen was purchased.”
Also contacted on Tuesday, Alabi attested to Uthman’s account of the policemen’s action when they visited Chikaodiri’s shop to arrest him, adding that he “paid the money for the iPhone 11 Pro Max to Adeshola, who directed me to Chikaodiri’s shop, where I got the phone.”
Adeshola, when contacted on Tuesday, confessed to getting the alleged stolen iPhone that Alabi sold on Uthman’s behalf to Salaudeen from Chikaodiri’s shop at Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Chikaodiri, while speaking with DEJI LAMBO on Tuesday, also admitted to “selling an iPhone to Adeshola.”
By Deji Lambo
Benjamin Hundeyin
#police #Extortion #lagospolice
Nigeria Police Force
