Five Nigerian police inspectors have been dismissed from the force after being found to have operated as part of a violent criminal syndicate that used official patrol vehicles to abduct, rob and extort civilians across Rivers State over a period of several months.
The officers — John Okoi, Eyibo Asuquo, Udo Ndipmong, Bright Nwachukwu and Anele Ikechukwu — were paraded on Friday at the Rivers State Police Command headquarters on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, alongside three colleagues who are yet to face formal proceedings. All five have been dismissed following internal orderly room trials. The remaining three, attached to Zone 16 headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, are expected to face further disciplinary action and prosecution in court. Three additional suspects linked to the network are currently at large.
Force public relations officer Anthony Placid, who addressed journalists at the parade, said investigators had uncovered a systematic pattern of criminality stretching from September 2025 to January 2026. The officers, he said, operated inside Toyota Sienna buses under the guise of routine patrols, using the vehicles — and the authority their uniforms conferred — to intercept residents, conduct illegal stop-and-search operations, and coerce victims into unlocking their mobile phones. Once in control of a victim’s device, the officers allegedly accessed bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, draining funds running into millions of naira.
In one of the more stark incidents uncovered by investigators, a victim was abducted along Igbo-Etche Road in Port Harcourt and forced to transfer ₦4.5m from his bank account, as well as $1,742 from a cryptocurrency wallet. Placid said victims were routinely taken to isolated locations where they were beaten and subjected to financial coercion under duress.
The investigation into three of the officers was triggered by petitions filed through the Behind Bars Human Rights Foundation on behalf of victims — an indication that civil society pressure played a role in bringing the case to light. Items recovered from suspects include three Toyota Sienna vehicles and ₦7,338,800 directly traced to the criminal operations.
Placid acknowledged that the scandal had exposed supervisory failures within the command, saying that disciplinary action was being extended to officers who had failed to enforce operational directives and whose negligence had created the conditions for the misconduct to flourish.
The police force, he insisted, was committed to what he described as “internal cleansing.” “These acts are criminal aberrations,” he said. “The Force remains committed to discipline, transparency and the protection of citizens’ rights.”
The dismissals represent one of the more serious and public accountability moments for the Nigeria Police Force in recent years, arriving at a time when public trust in law enforcement in the oil-rich south of the country remains fragile. Rights groups and opposition figures are likely to press for clarity on how officers accused of sustained violent criminality were able to operate undetected — or unreported — for nearly five months.
