A Joint Inter-Agency Team, led by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has arrested 37 operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for allegedly extorting money from motorists on highways.
The team, comprising officials of ICPC, FRSC and the Department of State Services (DSS), also arrested five persons said to be agents of the corps operatives in a sting operation carried out simultaneously in Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.
A spokesperson for the ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, said in a statement, “The FRSC management had, in the complaint to the Commission, observed that incidents of extortion were rife in the six states of Kaduna, Bauchi, Abia, Rivers, Kogi, and Ogun.
“Based on this, the ICPC-led team went into action and identified the notorious spots in each of the aforementioned states, which include Aba in Abia State; Ahoada, Ajaokuta, Itori, Toro and Gwantu, which are located in Rivers, Kogi, Ogun, Bauchi, and Kaduna states respectively.”
Thirteen FRSC operatives and two civilians were arrested in Aba in the South-east, while 24 officers of the commission and three agents were arrested from various spots on roads across the other geo-political zones.
“Findings from the Joint Inter-Agency Team indicated that various sums of money were found on the arrested Corps officials during the sting operations before they were taken into ICPC custody.
“However, all the officials arrested and three civilian accomplices have been granted administrative bail and will be prosecuted by the Commission at the conclusion of investigations,” said Okoduwa.
