Olusegun ARIYO
Police in Minna, Niger State, have arrested a 30-year-old dismissed police officer, Haruna Haggai, for allegedly impersonating security personnel, snatching motorcycles, and extorting residents.
Haggai was apprehended on January 16, 2026, at about 10 p.m. at his residence in Sauka-Kahuta, Minna, by operatives of the Force Intelligence Department and the Special Tactical Squad, following intelligence reports and a complaint from one of his victims.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Wasiu Abiodun, said in a statement that Haggai posed as a police officer on January 14, 2026, along Kpakungu Road, where he intercepted a Jincheng motorcycle, intimidated the rider, and forcefully took the bike.
According to investigations, the suspect later extorted ₦150,000 from the victim around Garatu, falsely accusing him of fraud before abandoning him.
“The suspect was arrested based on a direct complaint that a victim was riding a Jincheng motorcycle along Kpakungu Road on January 14, 2026, when the suspect, Haggai, intercepted him, impersonated a policeman, intimidated the victim, and forcefully collected the motorcycle,” the statement read.
“He later conveyed the rider around the town, extorted the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand naira from him around Garatu, tagged him a fraudster, abandoned him, and made away with the motorcycle.”
Abiodun added that this was not the suspect’s first offence, noting that in October 2025, Haggai was arrested for a similar crime involving impersonation of an EFCC official and extortion of ₦400,000.
However, he disclosed that the suspect was released at the time following an out-of-court settlement.
The statement further revealed that Haggai had been reported for harassing and terrorising members of the public around the Sauka-Kahuta area and its environs, extorting and robbing victims of their valuables.
“The suspect is currently in custody, undergoing investigation. The motorcycle has been recovered, and he will be charged in court for prosecution, taking into account records of his previous offences,” the command added.
