The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has removed six Commanding Officers (COs) of the Nigeria Police Force Mobile Personnel (MOPOL) and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited (formerly Total E&P) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to SaharaReporters, the development follows allegations that the commanding officers orchestrated a systematic extortion scheme targeting officers under their command.
The officers were quietly removed last week after a police investigative panel set up by the IGP indicted them over the alleged illegal collection of ₦70,000 monthly kickbacks from personnel deployed to protect the multinational oil company’s facilities.
Sources familiar with the development told the publication on Thursday that the disciplinary action followed an earlier investigation published by the newspaper exposing widespread extortion, abuse of office and poor welfare conditions within the special duty deployment.
According to one of the sources, the Force Headquarters initially encountered resistance during its investigation because many affected officers were afraid to speak openly.
“Following SaharaReporters’ publication, the IGP constituted a panel from Abuja to investigate the high-profile extortion allegations,” the source said.
Because of unforeseen circumstances, the affected personnel initially denied the extortion during the panel’s visit. But after the investigators returned to Abuja, some of the officers quietly submitted documentary evidence proving the extortion.”
The source disclosed that the evidence prompted the police hierarchy to remove all six Commanding Officers and replace them with new commanders.
“Last week, the six commanding officers were removed and replaced, while officers they used in collecting the extortion money were recommended for trial.
“However, the commanding officers are now busy lobbying to ensure those officers are not prosecuted. From the look of things, the removed COs are likely to be demobilised from MOPOL back to the conventional police and returned to various state commands,” the source revealed
Naijaonpoint understands that on June 8, SaharaReporters reported that officers and men of the MOPOL and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies had accused their commanders of operating what they described as an organised extortion racket.
The operatives alleged that shortly after TotalEnergies approved an upward review of their special duty allowances, the six Commanding Officers directed Special Duty Administrators to collect ₦70,000 from every officer each month as compulsory “returns.”
One of the affected officers recounted how the long-awaited increase in allowances quickly turned into another avenue for exploitation.
“God answered our prayers when the management promised to increase our allowance.
“Last month we received ₦220,000 as our new allowance. But immediately after the payment, our Commanding Officers ordered that ₦70,000 must be returned from each officer. Anyone who refused would be removed from the deployment,” the officer said.
