An Customs officer, SC Ibrahim Suleiman, has been accused of extorting N500,000 from a citizen, Muhammad Sani Ahmad, along Mokwa-Jebba Road in Niger State.
According to a Facebook post by his brother, Sani Umar Alhassan, Mr Ahmad was returning from Lagos when he ran into the rogue customs officer and his boys.
Sharing details of the incident, Mr Alhassan said, “this man you are seeing in this picture is a custom official from Katsina State, but his duty post is in Mokwa, Niger State.
“Allah has elevated him, but instead of using it for the service of the country and mankind, he chose to abuse the power to oppress and humiliate innocent Nigerians.
“On February 21, my brother’s name, Mall Ahmad, was returning from Lagos after buying a vehicle.
“The journey was smooth all through until he arrived at the customs duty post in Mokwa.
“The car he bought has original customs duty. In fact, he went to a customs office in Lagos and paid N11,000 to confirm the authenticity of the duty. And it was confirmed to be genuine.
“He passed many security officials on his way from Lagos but didn’t experience any challenges until he arrived in Mokwa.
“And here is what transpired between them: After undergoing all the necessary checks at the two security points in Mokwa, he was cleared to continue his journey.
“But he stayed over to catch up with an engagement in Mokwa town. In the process, the Suleiman boys bumped into him.
“They collected his duty clearance at around 3:30 and called their boss [Suleiman].
“He directed them to seize the vehicle until the following day in the morning,” he said.
After turning down all pleas, Mr Alhassan alleged that the customs officials demanded a bribe of N500,000 from his brother.
“After rejecting all his entreaties and insisted on payment of the money, Ahmad bowed to pressure, and ordered the sale of one of his assets at the sum of N350,00 to enable him to raise the money.
“Ahmad also informed the Yoruba man that sold the car to him of his travails. The man sympathized with him and sent him N150,0000 to ddd up and pay Suleiman,” he added.
According to him, the custom officials refused to accept the money through bank transfer and insisted on cash payment.
“We are therefore appealing to Nigerians to help spread this message until it gets to the appropriate authorities, so that Suleiman will stop oppressing and extorting innocent citizens.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Nigerian Customs Service, Abdullahi Maiwada, told our correspondent that the service had launched an investigation into the matter.
He said the duo would be appearing before an investigative panel on Monday.
While insisting that the service has zero tolerance for corrupt practices, Mr Maiwada assured that anyone found culpable would face the wrath of the law.
