A resident of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has accused police officers of extorting more than N5 million (3,120.071 USDT) from him in an incident that occurred on Friday.
The victim, who narrated his ordeal on the handle @SerrDavee on X (formerly Twitter), alleged that the officers stopped his Bolt ride, assaulted him, and forced him to transfer cryptocurrency funds from his Trust Wallet app before converting them to naira and withdrawing the money through several point-of-sale operators. He shared receipts of the transactions alongside his posts.
“Men of the Nigerian police force just extorted over 5M naira from me,” he wrote. “They stopped my Bolt ride on my way to get food—dragged me out of the vehicle—began beating me—forced me into their mini bus vehicle with no plate number.”
The user claimed the officers, dressed in plain black tactical gear without nametags, handcuffed him and repeatedly hit him with their weapons. “I was hit on the neck with their gun and it is currently swollen,” he stated.
He further alleged that the officers accessed his phone by force, opened his Trust Wallet, and compelled him to liquidate over $3,000 worth of cryptocurrency into naira. According to him, the funds were withdrawn at multiple POS outlets in Port Harcourt, with his Bolt driver and the POS operators present as witnesses.
“They did not want to hear anything—they beat me to a pulp—handcuffed me & drove me outside my city,” he wrote, adding that the five-man team claimed they were from Bayelsa State.
He described them as “delinquents of men we call ‘men in black’” who acted outside standard police procedure. Linking his experience to the broader culture of police abuse that fuelled the #EndSARS protests of 2020, he said such incidents highlighted ongoing violations by rogue officers.
“These people are criminals… It’s the reason the ENDSARS protests were held,” he stated.
“I hate this country & will do all I can to leave here,” he added, expressing frustration over recurring cases of young Nigerians being brutalised by security agents.
As of Saturday morning, calls placed to the mobile line of Rivers State police command spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, went unanswered.
