The commission has also stopped the salaries of the officers, Doubara Edonyabo and Talent Mungo, both assistant superintendents of police.
Grace Iringe-Koko, the police spokesperson in Rivers State, disclosed this in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday.
Their suspension, which took effect on 29 February, came less than a month after the third officer involved in the alleged offence, Michael Odey, an inspector, was dismissed from the service.
Human rights activist Harrison Gwamnishu in January drew the attention of the police authorities to the alleged extortion through his X handle.
Mr Gwamnishu said the three officers left Port Harcourt for Abia State where they “abducted” the victims and took them to Delta and Bayelsa States before “dumping” them in Port Harcourt after allegedly extorting $3, 000 from them.
The police authorities in Rivers State in their investigation found the officers guilty, recovered the money and refunded the victims before recommending the officers for dismissal.
Being a junior officer (inspector), Mr Odey’s case was reviewed by the assistant inspector general of police in charge of Zone 16, Bayelsa State, who upheld the recommendation of the police in Rivers and subsequently dismissed him with effect from 7 February.
But Messrs Edonyabo and Mungo, being senior officers, had their case referred to the Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police for a review.
Their suspension and stoppage of salaries is the outcome of the review by the Police Service Commission, Mrs Iringe-Koko said.
“The two officers will face the Force Disciplinary Committee, which is responsible for addressing disciplinary issues involving senior officers. Update would soon be given on other cases involving these officers.
“This decisive course of action serves as a strong deterrent to any police officer who may contemplate engaging in misconduct and unequivocally reaffirms our unwavering commitment to upholding the fundamental principles of credible policing in Rivers State,” she said.
Other extortion Cases
There has been an increase in the reported cases of extortion among police officers in the country since the beginning of the year, despite the inspector general of police warning that officers found guilty of using his name to extort Nigerians will face severe punishments.
The commissioner of police in Delta State last month removed a Divisional Crimes Officer in Abraka Division for alleged extortion over N2 million from residents of the state.
The DPO of the division is also accused of benefiting from the extorted money to the tune of over N900,000. The money was recovered and returned to the victim.
The police spokesperson in Delta State, Bright Edafe, told PREMIUM TIMES that the police in the state were still investigating the case and would update the public on the outcome.
This newspaper also reported how some police officers from Force Headquarters in Abuja who were on a mission to investigate a murder case in Edo State allegedly extorted over N3 million from a Nigerian in the Auchi area of Edo State.
The police authorities recovered the money and returned it to the victim.
Also, this online Platform, few weeks back reported the detention of some officers at the Force headquarters in Abuja over an alleged extortion of N30.3 million from a Nigerian.
Mr Gwamnishu drew the attention of police authorities to the alleged extortions by the attention of police authorities to the alleged extortions by the officers.
