He said Fatai requested the sum to “motivate” his colleagues so that the robbers could be tracked down, adding that he was only able to give him N2,000.
It was learnt that the policeman was assigned to Oduniyi after hegh reported at the station that some robbers raided his apartment on Mati Olumuyiwa Street, Orelope, in the Egbede area of Lagos around 3pm on September 1, 2015.
The robbers were said to have made away with valuables and his Automated Teller Machine card, which they later used to withdraw N100,000 from his bank account.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Fatai had promised to send a letter to the bank to release the visuals of the person who carried out the transaction, but had yet to do so, giving excuses whenever the victim met with him.
Recounting the incident to our correspondent, Oduniyi said the fleeing robbers attacked two other houses on the fateful day, but were only successful at his apartment before residents raised the alarm.
He said, “I worked on my computer till 11.30pm that day before my wife and I decided to go to bed. All of a sudden, we saw our door wide open and two men with a gun and a torch came in.
“They ordered us to lie down and threatened to kill us and our child if we refused to cooperate.
“They took the N5,000 I had on me, my phone, Ipad and my wife’s two phones. They collected the ATM card of my GTB account, and requested I gave the correct PIN or lose our child. It was when one of them was busy searching my wardrobe that I managed to see his face. I can recognise him if I see him.
“I was trying to call GTconnect after they had left when I received five alerts 0f N20,000 each that had been withdrawn from my account. The transaction was carried out at the Access Bank’s ATM in our area.
“I went to Area M and a policeman, Fatai, was told to take my statement. He inspected my house, I gave him pictures and a print out of the alerts from my email address. He said he would write a letter to Access Bank, requesting the visual of the person that withdrew the money. I have been to the station and called him on the phone several times, but he has been giving me excuses. He requested N15,000 to motivate his colleagues to track those guys. I said I only had N2,000 which I gave him. I guess he is foot dragging on it because I did not give him the N15, 000.”
Another victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the robbers fled after he raised the alarm, adding that they did not succeed in his apartment.
He said, “I was sleeping in the parlour when I heard a scratch on the door. I was already standing when they entered. I wanted to move, but they threatened to shoot me. They ordered me to lead them to the room where my wife and children were.
“While I was going, they were a bit far from me so I quickly jumped into the room and shut the door. My children and wife had woken up by then, and we were all shouting ‘thief, thief.’ That was how they fled.”
Another resident, Omotope Bello, described the incident as “terrible”, saying it was unfortunate that the police were not handling the matter seriously.
He said, “It was around 4pm when I heard the distress call. It was terrible. It was the first time such a thing would happen since I moved into this area three years ago.
“We expect the police to be aggressive about it. It should not be difficult to get the identity of the person that withdrew the money since a camera was there.”
The Lagos State police spokesperson, DSP Joe Offor, promised to contact the police division and get back to our correspondent on Monday.
He said, “I have been trying to get across to the DPO of the station to no avail. By tomorrow (Monday), the case file and the policeman that is handling the matter will be verified from the station.”
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