IGP Disu Removes 6 MOPOL Commanders Over ₦70k Extortion

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has removed six commanding officers of the Nigeria Police Force Mobile Personnel and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following allegations they orchestrated a systematic extortion scheme targeting officers under their command.

The officers were quietly removed last week after a police investigative panel constituted 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. The disciplinary action followed an investigation published by SaharaReporters exposing widespread extortion, abuse of office and poor welfare conditions within the special duty deployment.

According to sources familiar with the development, Force Headquarters initially encountered resistance during its investigation because many affected officers were afraid to speak openly. Following the newspaper’s publication, the IGP constituted a panel from Abuja to investigate the high-profile allegations. During the panel’s visit, affected personnel initially denied the extortion. After the investigators returned to Abuja, some officers quietly submitted documentary evidence proving the scheme.

The evidence prompted the police hierarchy to remove all six commanding officers and replace them with new commanders. Officers allegedly used to collect the extortion money were recommended for trial. However, the removed commanding officers are now lobbying to ensure those officers are not prosecuted. Sources indicate the removed COs are likely to be demobilised from MOPOL back to the conventional police and returned to various state commands.

SaharaReporters had exclusively reported earlier that officers and men of the MOPOL and Operations units attached to TotalEnergies accused their commanders of operating an organised extortion racket. 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 affected officer recounted how the long-awaited allowance increase quickly became another avenue for exploitation. Last month, personnel received ₦220,000 as their new allowance. Immediately after payment, commanding officers ordered that ₦70,000 must be returned from each officer. Anyone who refused faced removal from the deployment. Officers said they paid under duress for fear of redeployment.

Beyond the alleged monthly kickbacks, the officers accused commanders of fraudulently inserting their own names on TotalEnergies’ payroll for field operatives despite not participating in operational duties. Commanding officers allegedly receive the same field allowances as frontline officers while remaining in administrative positions, a practice the oil company was reportedly unaware of.

Operatives also described grim welfare conditions, alleging they received no medical coverage, no overtime allowance and inadequate feeding despite providing armed security for critical national assets. Personnel claimed they pay for their own medical treatment and described the food provided as substandard.

The officers further alleged similar exploitation exists in police deployments to several Chinese companies operating across Nigeria. Although some 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.

Affected personnel have called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Assistant Inspector-General in charge of MOPOL to overhaul the special duty deployment system, insisting officers risking their lives to protect strategic national assets should not be subjected to exploitation by their own commanders. Efforts to obtain a reaction from the Nigeria Police Force were unsuccessful.