A traditional chief in Shasha, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, Chief Olusola Adegboye, has accused officers of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Annex, Alagbon, of extorting N1.5m from him and stealing €760 during a raid on his residence in December 2024.

Adegboye, who holds the title, Oluomo of Shasha and also serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Human Rights Defenders and Access to Justice Advocacy Centre, made the allegations during a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

According to him, gun-wielding officers stormed his home on December 14, 2024, following a petition reportedly written by his wife, who currently stays in the Netherlands through her brother, alleging that the chief planned to kidnap her.

“Based on the spurious and baseless petition by my wife through her brother, a truckload of policemen from the FCID, Alagbon, came to arrest me barely a few hours after I returned to Nigeria from the Netherlands,” he said.

He claimed that the officers broke into his office and residence without any prior notice or invitation, backing his claim with photos showing a broken door and shattered window panes.

He said, “They didn’t send me any invitation at all. There was no call. They broke down the door to my office like I was some criminal. They conducted an illegal search of my premises and carted away valuable items, including gold jewellery and my Nissan Juke SUV, worth several million.”

Adegboye also alleged that the officers handcuffed him and paraded him through the streets in front of a crowd as if he were a criminal.

“I was arrested and handcuffed in full view of hundreds of people. The officers called me a criminal and treated me like one even though I had done nothing to deserve such humiliation,” he said.

He further alleged that one of the officers, identified only as Musa, demanded N1.5m as a condition for his release.

He said, “Musa told me to bring N1.5m for bail or I would remain in detention over the weekend. I pleaded with him to release me that Saturday since I had just returned to Nigeria and hadn’t exchanged my money.”

According to the chief, the €760 found in his purse was never returned, even though the purse itself was handed back.

He claimed to our correspondent that the money for his release was paid through different transactions conducted at the FCID office on December 16, 2024, and January 14, 2025. He further said that despite filing a suit at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi to challenge the seizure of his property, his SUV had yet to be returned.

“They took away all my documents, including the one for the house and my landed property elsewhere. They said they were going to return them to me after their investigation, but they have not returned them to me to date. I want my property and documents returned to me,” the chief pleaded.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the FCID, Amina Mayegun, directed our correspondent to the acting Public Relations Officer, Seun Olowookere.

Olowookere requested that the victim and this reporter come to Alagbon in person to resolve the issue.

However, when asked for a phone comment, he promised to call back with a response.

Six days later, Olowookere did not provide any official comment or clarification regarding the incident. (The PUNCH)