26 FRSC officials arrested for alleged extortion – ICPC
Twenty-six officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) have been arrested for alleged extortion of motorists in different parts of the country.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, in Abuja yesterday.
Okoduwa said the culprits were nabbed in a joint operation codenamed: “Operation Tranquillity,” involving operatives of the ICPC, FRSC and the Department of State Services (DSS).
She said a man, alleged to be the custodian of the proceeds of extortion, was also arrested in Owerri, Imo State, during the exercise.
Okoduwa alleged that various sums of money were found on the suspects during the operation before they were taken into ICPC custody.
The came less than three months after 37 FRSC officials were arrested in a similar operation in August.
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Okoduwa, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the latest operation was conducted simultaneously in four states of Imo, Ondo, Yobe and Zamfara, between October 2 and 5.
The exercise, according to her, followed official complaint from the management of the FRSC of extortions by some marshals of its patrol teams nationwide.
She said: “The FRSC management had, in the complaint, observed that incidents of extortion were rampant on highways across the country.
“The just-concluded operation was conducted in the four states of Imo, Zamfara, Ondo and Yobe, which are not part of the six states where the earlier operation was carried out.”
A breakdown of the new figure shows that nine officials and a civilian were arrested in Owerri; eight in Kaura-Namoda, Zamfara; five in Ore, Ondo, and four in Potiskum, Yobe.
She added: “All the officials and the civilian arrested have been granted administrative bail pending their prosecution by the commission at the conclusion of investigations.”
