How Police officers arrested photographer, friend for taking pictures at Alagomeji railway, extort N30,000

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Police personnel from the NRC Police Station in Kajola detained photographer Francis Alagbe and his companion on Friday for taking pictures of the stunning landscape of the Alagomeji Railway. They then demanded N30,000 from them.

Alagbe informed FIJ that he and his companion had chosen to take the Alagomeji Railway instead of continuing on to Ebute-Metta. They made the decision to take photos of the region after observing it.

He claimed that as they were doing so, the cops arrived and took them into custody. Although they were not aware of their precise violation at the time, the police later stated that they had been arrested for unlawfully photographing the train.

“But we did not take pictures of the train. The police said it was illegal to take pictures of the area, but no one told us about it, and there was no signpost to communicate this. The next thing they said was that we had to bail ourselves out with N100,000,” Alagbe told FIJ.

He claimed that the police had promised to release them if they paid the sum. But he didn’t have any cash on him, even if they wanted to pay right away.

Alagbe claimed that before the police allowed him to use the phone, he called his brother to let him know about his situation. He claims that his brother secured their release with the police and handed him N20,000. The cops agreed to release them for N30,000 after much deliberation.

“My brother paid the N30,000. To get the money, the police called in a point-of-sale agent to the station. When the agent arrived, my brother made a transfer,” he said.

“We met five boys in the cell who had also been arrested for taking pictures in the area. The police said they must pay N200,000 to be released.”

The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, was contacted by FIJ to provide remarks. He promised to bring up the issue with FIJ.

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