A 38-year-old man, Abiodun Ajayi, has been arraigned before an Ikeja, Lagos, magistrate court for alleged impersonation and falsely representing himself as a police sergeant to one Ariyo Arinola attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja.
The police told the court that Ajayi committed the offences in July 2019 at about 8am at the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Unah Mike, told the court that Ajayi impersonated a police officer with intent to extort monetary gain from a person he accused of committing an offence, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 303(a)(b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
Mike told the court that Ajayi also wrote a text message from his phone number; 08123402323 to the victim’s phone line threatening him that the office-in-charge of SARS, Ikeja, was sending some operatives to his house to arrest him.
The accused person was also alleged to have falsely obtained the sum of N2 million from the victim on the pretence that he wanted to appeal to the SARS officer at Ikeja to discontinue investigation into a petition written against the victim.
Ajayi pleaded not guilty to the four-count criminal charge levelled against him.
Chief magistrate A. A. Fashola admitted him to bail of N500,000, one witness with a verifiable identity, one guarantor and proven tax payment.
Fashola told Ajayi he would be jailed for three years if he is unable to fulfil the bail conditions.
The magistrate adjourned the case till December 16, 2019
