Some officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Lagos Command have complained about the degree of extortion being introduced by the Lagos Sector Commander, Mr Chidi  Nkwonta  against the officers in the command.

The complaint of the officers who pledged anonymity, was sequel to a letter written on behalf of the sector commander to all the 20 Unit commanders asking them to pay N150,000 each for a dinner party scheduled for January in the command.

The letter dated December 17, 2013 with reference FRSC/RS2.1/OPS/132/G/VOL.24/53 and signed by the Head of Operations Mr Oye Irelewuyi  for the sector commander, said that on no account should any Unit commander fail to remit its contribution of N150,000 to the sector on or before Jan. 10, 2014. 

The letter said that in addition to their donation of N150, 000  each, the unit commanders should   collect letter of sponsors from the command and pursue corporate organizations ‘vigorously’ across the state to collect money for the dinner estimated to cost N3million.

One of the affected officers told CEOAFRICA that the policy of extortion in the command was strange to him and was capable of creating a network of  bribery in the system. He said that the internal extortion that had now become part of the system in the command poses a great danger for the officers and men of the command.

He explained that if a unit commander was not careful he will begin to send the marshals on the road to collect bribe from motorists and make returns.

The officer who said that he earned less N200,000 per month wonder where the sector commander want him to get the N150,000 for a dinner. 

He said that the note of force on the letter demanding for the amount was a new dimension in an organization that always tell the public not to bribe its

officers. 

The officer expressed the hope that the management of the FRSC Headquarters Abuja would investigate the matter and discourage the negative trend.   

When contacted the Zonal Public Education Officer Mrs Osunduni said that she could not comment on the letter. She pleaded that our reporter should wait to hear from the officer who signed the letter.

Speaking in a telephone interview, the Head of Operations, Lagos Sector Command, Oye Irelewuyi said the planned dinner was statutory and regimentary to all commands. He confirmed the letter but said the N150,000 was not for the unit commanders but from the stakeholders.

He explained the letters were sent out to stakeholders for their support and "we are not expecting less than N150,000 from them."