Nigeria police and the culture of extortion

Medinat Kanabe highlights some of the  ways some unscrupulous policemen  extort money from motorists across the country.

One fine Thursday evening, Esther Amanze was returning home from her workplace in Mushin. She boarded a tricycle heading towards Isolo just before the fly-over at Daleko; as the tricycle approached Aiye Bus-stop, the operator noticed a police officer standing by and instinctively turned to Amanze. “Madam I beg hurry up, give me that your N50, I no wan give this man N100. She immediately obliged him and handed him the polymer note, which he in turn added a ten naira note and handed over to the policeman. On the police officer’s shirt was written the name, Tajudeen Oloyede.

The officer took one look at the money and said: “Ah ah, eleyi kere nah,” (meaning ‘this is small’); and the operator in turn told him, “eba wa manage e,” (meaning, please manage it). In the end, and following some pleas, the officer squeezed the money into his pocket, waved to the operator and said ese o, ko ni tan n be o, literally meaning, ‘more blessing’.

On another occasion, this reporter boarded a tricycle, still along the same route and observed that within a spate of one kilometre, the operator had already parted with money thrice. First a 50 naira note, then a 100 naira note and another 50 naira note.

Usually a youth between ages 25 and 35 would dash out from the roadside, scream ‘owo da’, collect the note and run to another bus.

Thinking she had seen enough, this reporter asked, “All these money you’ve been giving out, whose pocket is it going to?”

Perplexed, the driver said “Na money for police o.”

Asked what will happen if he refused to give out the money, the tricycle operator laughed and said, “See this woman o! Why you dey ask questions as if you are not in Lagos? If you don’t give them the money, they will delay you and take your Marwa (tricycle) to the station.”

This reporter then replied: “Very good now, then you can explain to the DPO that they want to extort you.”

At this point, the operator hissed and said in Yoruba: “Ema wo eleyi o (Look at this one). As soon as the DPO set eyes on me, he will come out, scream at me and call me a thief. He will even tell me that I stole the Marwa and that they have been looking for me. The next thing, they will throw you in jail until our people (the tricycle union) will come and bail you. Apart from wasting your day, you will end up paying more than the 100 naira that you’re trying to claim your right over. They will also call you a thief and beat you to confess to what you’re not.”

Asked how much he makes per day, he instead reeled out a list of the levies he pays, legal and illegal: “We pay N400 to the police everyday; we pay N1, 500 as ticket money, we deliver N3, 500; we also pay council money N600. That makes it about N6000. This is excluding the money we use to repair the tricycle if it breaks down o!”

He explained that this is why some of them work till late in the evening, so they can make some money for themselves after paying all the levies.

He said the police employ the use of touts as fronts to collect these illegal levies, to shift attention from themselves and their unwholesome practices.

Besides, he said “They must pretend as if they’re working.”

Another tricycle operator narrated his unfortunate experience in the hands of the police after his tricycle was seized for one whole week for refusing to part with 50 naira. “My sister na yesterday dem release this Marwa to me o! If to say I know, I for no talk anything. I for just give them the money. One of the boys stopped me for Pako bus-stop before General Hospital Isolo; as I slow down, I come say which kind thing be this self, useless policemen. I no know say dem hear me o! Na so I enter trouble. They seized my Marwa and took it to their station. I beg them until I left the place. Na yesterday them give me my Marwa after collecting N3, 000 from me. I didn’t work for days, I really suffer o.” He said in pidgin English.

Jill Okeke, a freelance journalist based in Lagos, also shared her experiences. She spoke of other modes of corruption practice by the law enforcement officers that border on the desperate, in which they practically set traps for road users.  She said they have a way of placing road signs in a manner that’ll confuse road users and get them to unwittingly break traffic rules. This, she said, gives them the opportunity to pounce on drivers and force them to pay bribes.

She said, “One day I was heading towards Oshodi from inside Ikeja, just after the computer village. I had driven through Awolowo Way, I had passed Anifowose, passed Akinremi Street and heading towards the turning before the railway. I saw a signboard saying one way on the street before the last one, so I did not enter and drove to the last street (Adegbola Street) that didn’t have any such sign. As I turned, a police officer came out and told me I had taken one-way. Apparently, they had positioned themselves there, waiting and knowing that motorists would definitely fall prey.

“I told them there was no indication, but they insisted I had committed a traffic offence and said I must follow them to their office. They said it is not their duty to put the sign at the right place. In the meantime, I took out my phone and took some pictures of them as they argued with me, before following them to their office at Ikeja Local Government Council. I deliberately refused to drive in, knowing that they would immediately deflate my tyres.

“At their office, I asked why they didn’t arrest other motorists plying the same street, but they told me that according to the law, it is the first person that passed the road that they would arrest. They asked why I took pictures of them and I told them I am a journalist, this got them scared as they began to demand that I delete the pictures I had taken. Seeing that I wasn’t cooperating, they went to call a senior officer to plead with me to delete the pictures, which I eventually did and was thereafter allowed to go.” She said.

Another such occasion, she said was at Ikeja GRA. “As you are driving down from Leventis and leaving Ikeja GRA to join the highway, there is an indication saying ‘No Entry’ before the last street. But they placed it in a way that you’re not sure which road it is referring to. As usual, they had positioned themselves; waiting for victims to pounce on. Again, I managed to wriggle free from their trap, but if you ask me, I think it is really despicable when people who are supposed to protect you and serve your interest are the same people setting you up for arrest.

“What is wrong with correcting the erring driver for instance, especially when you know that the signs are not well-placed? They could even correct the anomaly and ensure that the signs are well-placed to avoid any confusion.”

Another group of people that suffer in the hands of the law enforcement officers are the motorcycle riders, popularly known as okada riders. Following completion of the Ajao Estate road, Okada riders literally took over the road, ferrying passengers in record time and making lots of money. But they soon became a menace and the Lagos State government promptly banned them from plying the route.

But rather than enforce the ban, the police simply seized the opportunity to extort the riders and make sleaze money from them.

According to a rider, Kamal Jubril, “If we carry two passengers, we will pay police N200, but if we carry one passenger we would pay police N100. So what we do now is that once we’re nearing their spot, we would plead with one of the passengers to get off and walk past the policemen, so we would only pay N100. If you refuse to pay, they will seize your bike, and because the government has banned us from using the road, they may not even give it back to us once it gets to their office.”

Continuing, he said, “Do you know we even tell them ‘thank you’ after giving them our money?”

Stella Adams, who sells at the popular Computer Village, also told the story of how some Rapid Respond Squad (RRS) officers blocked their vehicles from moving after loading passengers at the park, all because of N1000, which they said the council was supposed to settle them.

She also cited the case of police officers, who collect money from motorist doing one-way against traffic and collecting bribe from them, wondering whether they do not know that it can lead to loss of life.