Over 20 Nigerians are currently in detention for no just cause at the Iddo Police Station in Abuja, Bellnews has gathered.
Multiple sources confirmed to the newspaper that the residents were illegally arrested under the guise of security raids on some houses and schools on Friday evening.
Bellnews gathered that despite spending the night in cell and not seeing anything incriminating evidence on them, the officers are requesting for a bribe from their family members and friends before they could be released.
They were all arrested around Bassa area in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to multiple sources, some of them were picked up in front of their houses and a school in the area.
Bellnews gathered that the young men were handcuffed and treated by the policemen like criminals.
“I just stepped out of my house and I saw a bus parked beside me, before I knew what was happening, they forced me to enter the bus. I asked what I did and one of the officers slapped me.
“After my arrest, in same Bassa, about seven other young men were arrested in same pattern. Some were even arrested in front of a community school. From there, they moved to Sauka and picked up as many as they liked.
“It was when we got to the station that we heard that policemen from the station had been illegally arresting people just to extort them.
“They then started requesting us to pay them different amount as bail because all of us slept in the cell till this morning. Imagine taking N50,000 from over 20 people, that’s a million Naira,” one of those arrested told Bellnews.
Another source added, “That’s how officers from the station do. I was once arrested around 8pm and forced to pay N50,000 before I was released. I and others were beaten and forced to pay for our bail.”