Some police officers deployed to curb kidnapping along the now dreaded Ife-Ibadan hightway, South-west Nigeria, were on Monday caught extorting motorists.

The policemen stationed at the outskirt of Ibadan, Ikire, Gbongan and Ile-Ife demanded bribe from the driver of the vehicle conveying this reporter and 17 other passengers on Monday evening.

The journey lasted an hour and 15 minutes.

Some of the motorists who earlier spoke with Us confirmed the habitual extortion by officers adding that these have heightened now with additional road blocks mounted along the road.

While the police officers in the outskirts of Ibadan and Ikire collected the naira notes discreetly without questioning the driver, the ones at Gbongan and Ile-Ife did not.

An officer at Gbongan, with the inscription Akosoba A on his uniform, collected a 100-naira note from the driver and gave a change of fifty naira.

Also, a policeman in Ile-Ife, who appeared in a camouflage, instructed the motorist to park for raising a question, but changed his mind after a fifty-naira note was slid into his hands.