The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has removed six Commanding Officers (COs) of the Nigeria Police Force Mobile Personnel (MOPOL) and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited (formerly Total E&P) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following allegations that they orchestrated a systematic extortion scheme targeting officers under their command.
SaharaReporters gathered that the officers were quietly removed last week after a police investigative panel set up by the IGP indicted them over the alleged illegal collection of ₦70,000 monthly kickbacks from personnel deployed to protect the multinational oil company’s facilities.
Sources familiar with the development told SaharaReporters on Thursday that the disciplinary action followed an earlier investigation published by the newspaper exposing widespread extortion, abuse of office and poor welfare conditions within the special duty deployment.
According to one of the sources, the Force Headquarters initially encountered resistance during its investigation because many affected officers were afraid to speak openly.
“Following SaharaReporters’ publication, the IGP constituted a panel from Abuja to investigate the high-profile extortion allegations,” the source said.
“Because of unforeseen circumstances, the affected personnel initially denied the extortion during the panel’s visit. But after the investigators returned to Abuja, some of the officers quietly submitted documentary evidence proving the extortion.”
The source disclosed that the evidence prompted the police hierarchy to remove all six Commanding Officers and replace them with new commanders.
“Last week the six commanding officers were removed and replaced, while officers they used in collecting the extortion money were recommended for trial,” the source revealed.
“However, the commanding officers are now busy lobbying to ensure those officers are not prosecuted. From the look of things, the removed COs are likely to be demobilised from MOPOL back to the conventional police and returned to various state commands.”
On June 8, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that officers and men of the MOPOL and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies had accused their commanders of operating what they described as an organised extortion racket.
The operatives alleged that shortly after TotalEnergies approved an upward review of their special duty allowances, the six Commanding Officers directed Special Duty Administrators to collect ₦70,000 from every officer each month as compulsory “returns.”
One of the affected officers recounted how the long-awaited increase in allowances quickly turned into another avenue for exploitation.
“God answered our prayers when the management promised to increase our allowance,” the officer had told SaharaReporters.
“Last month we received ₦220,000 as our new allowance. But immediately after the payment, our Commanding Officers ordered that ₦70,000 must be returned from each officer. Anyone who refused would be removed from the deployment.”
The officers said they paid the money under pressure for fear of being redeployed.
“We paid under duress, but we are appealing to the Inspector-General of Police to intervene because we also have families to take care of, just like these Commanding Officers,” one of them said.
Beyond the alleged monthly kickbacks, the officers accused the commanders of fraudulently inserting their own names on TotalEnergies’ payroll for field operatives despite not participating in operational duties.
According to the personnel, the Commanding Officers allegedly receive the same field allowances as frontline officers while remaining in administrative positions, a practice they claimed the oil company was unaware of.
The operatives also painted a grim picture of their welfare, alleging that they received no medical coverage, no overtime allowance and inadequate feeding despite providing armed security for critical national assets.
“We pay for our own medical treatment. There is no overtime allowance and the food they give us is worse than dog food. It would be better if they didn’t provide food at all,” another officer alleged.
The officers further alleged that similar exploitation exists in police deployments to several Chinese companies operating across Nigeria.
According to them, although some Chinese firms reportedly pay about ₦270,000 monthly for each deployed officer, personnel on the ground allegedly receive only about ₦50,000 once every two months, with the balance allegedly diverted through the police command structure.
“What a wicked world,” one frustrated operative lamented.
The affected personnel had called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Assistant Inspector-General in charge of MOPOL to overhaul the special duty deployment system, insisting that officers risking their lives to protect strategic national assets should not be subjected to exploitation by their own commanders.
Efforts by SaharaReporters to obtain the reaction of the Nigeria Police Force were unsuccessful.
(SaharaReporters)