Take-It-Back Movement Heads To Court Over Lagos Resident Illegally Detained After Police Extortion Of ₦45,000 | Sahara Reporters

According to the victim, he had gone to work for a man popularly known as “Pastor” and returned home after completing the job.

The Lagos State Legal Aid Team of the Take It Back Movement has commenced legal proceedings over the alleged unlawful detention and extortion of a Lagos-based man, Sunday Moses Olugbemi, by the Nigeria Police Force.

The legal team, led by Bolaji Oluwatosin, Esq., confirmed in a statement dated August 18, 2026, that it had been formally engaged by Olugbemi to seek legal redress over his alleged four-day detention at the Igando Police Station and the payment of ₦45,000 allegedly demanded as a condition for his release.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Olugbemi accused the police of detaining him over an allegation that he stole a mobile phone, despite the phone later being recovered while he was still in custody.

According to the victim, he had gone to work for a man popularly known as “Pastor” and returned home after completing the job.

He said he was later contacted and asked to return because a mobile phone was allegedly missing.

Olugbemi alleged that police officers subsequently came to his residence and arrested him, after which he was taken to the Igando Police Station.

“I spent four days there. Then later they saw the phone. They took me from home and locked me up for four days on wrong accusation. The phone was later found,” he had told SaharaReporters.

He further alleged that he was required to pay ₦45,000 before he could regain his freedom.

“I even later bailed myself from the police. The police still collected ₦45,000 from me after remanding me for four days on false allegations,” he said.

Following the report, the Take It Back Movement raised concerns over the alleged treatment of Olugbemi and indicated that its legal team would pursue the matter.

In the latest development, the organisation’s Lagos State Legal Aid Team said it had now taken formal instructions from Olugbemi and would institute proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction.

“Having carefully considered the facts placed before us and having taken full instructions from the said victim, we state that the detention of Mr. Olugbemi for four days at the Igando Police Station upon a false allegation of theft of a mobile phone, which mobile phone was subsequently recovered while he remained in custody and the extraction from him of the sum of Forty Five Thousand Naira as a condition for his release, constitute a breach of his fundamental rights under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” the legal team said.

The lawyers described the alleged conduct as an affront to the rule of law, the presumption of innocence and the dignity of the human person.

According to the statement, the legal action will seek enforcement of Olugbemi’s fundamental rights, recovery of the allegedly extorted ₦45,000 and compensation for the alleged unlawful detention and trauma suffered.

“Pursuant to the formal engagement now perfected, the undersigned, Bolaji Oluwatosin, Esq., of Counsel, acting on behalf of the Take It Back Movement Lagos Legal Aid Team, has been instructed to and shall without delay institute appropriate proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of the victim; for recovery of the sum unlawfully extracted from him; for damages for the unlawful detention and the attendant trauma; and for such further orders as the court may deem fit to make in the interest of justice,” the statement added.

The legal team also said police officers found to have participated in or authorised the alleged acts would be pursued before both the courts and relevant disciplinary authorities of the Nigeria Police Force.

“We shall pursue this matter to its logical conclusion. Those officers found to have participated in or authorised the said acts must answer for their conduct both before the courts and before the appropriate disciplinary authorities of the Nigeria Police Force,” it said.

The Take It Back Movement said the case was part of its broader campaign against arbitrary use of state power and violations of citizens’ rights.

“The Take It Back Movement remains committed to the defence of the citizen against the arbitrary exercise of power and to the insistence that no Nigerian shall be deprived of his liberty or of his resources upon a false allegation or the convenience of an investigating officer,” the organisation said.