Dear Stella,
Thank you for your good work. I am a BV and I have written to you on a couple of time to share some things with you.
I am writing this to please help me use your good platform to report the police brutality I witnessed yesterday. Here goes my story.
Yesterday on my way to Ilorin from Ogbomoso, I met these men in uniform by the road. They were ransacking almost all vehicles and my car was stopped. The only 2 people they ordered to Alight from my car was a young man and I. After searching the first guy, they asked me to be searched.
I complied and he asked me, are you a student? Knowing fully well I have not been issued my id-card from school. I chose to be identified as a research fellow of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which ID card I am carrying. I said I am a young researcher with IITA. He asked me to produce my ID Card which I did. Asked for my bag, he searched and found my laptop, an ongoing research report, international passport, my school documents, atm, international MasterCard for my travel tax refund, 50 Rands ( an of equivalent of 1500 naira), earphone and $100.
Asked for my laptop receipt and I have the photocopy with me. Seeing he could not nail anything on me after the laptop receipt, he promptly concluded I am an internet fraudster (Yahoo boys) to have international currency in my possession.
I smiled and said No I am not. Another officer crossed from the other side of the road and said why am I smiling? Why am I talking back at an officer and before I know it Slap landed on my ears. I started bleeding.
I smiled and said No I am not. Another officer crossed from the other side of the road and said why am I smiling? Why am I talking back at an officer and before I know it Slap landed on my ears. I started bleeding.
A second officer promptly put something on me that shocked me like electricity. I looked keenly into his eyes as I asked him WHY DID YOU SLAP ME? the third man cocked his gun and I stood there smiling and asking, does that mean you will shoot me? At this point, everything on me was collected, including my phone. Then an elderly man among them approached and asked what the matter was. I explained and the man said how come I have an international currency with me. I showed them my passport and a valid visa for my recent trip to South Africa that it was a change of the money spent on the trip which is meant for refund.
Then the man said I SHOULD NOT HAVE SMILED OR ARGUED WITH AN OFFICER. Began to stylishly begging me saying sorry you are not doing anything illegal and they have to return your phones and Laptop with money. Then another junior officer say the money is an evidence that it must not be returned, the man insisted, I watched them as they argued but the older man prevailed. He wasn't really begging but he spotted the fault of his men I guess. I took my property and I left bleeding.
I am writing this because I sure know the department of state security will see it and the intelligence response unit of the Nigerian Police will read your blog. Please, if the Federal Special Anti Robbery Squard unit of the Nigerian police don't have any other thing to do than harass law-abiding citizens, they may as well leave the road.
This is the second time these F-SARS officers will harass me on my own soil. I was in another country last week and even when police stopped my colleagues, they were polite and did their job professionally.
Thank you and may God bless you
Thank you and may God bless you
The authority should take these inhumane activities seriously
ReplyDeleteI witnessed something like this at barracks bus stop ojuelegba in front of the police station beside fire service(surulere division i guess). I was waiting for BRT bus, they stopped a red sport car with a guy using face cap(very fine big guy o), they said he is a yahoo guy because of his face cap, if you see the way they harassed and beat this guy en, they cocked their gun treating him like a criminal. They dragged him into the station when people gathered and the guy too was shouting that he showed them is I.D card and that he has no weekend money to give them.
DeleteSo sorry about your ordeal.
ReplyDeleteBut I have now learned never to smile with a police man.
They hardly search females, only males.
I hate the Nigerian police.
Bunch of covfefe!
They do search females now as well o, Just pray they don't come your way.
DeleteThey do ooo,honestly I would be over joked if the acting president can look into the excesses of the Nigerian police.
DeleteThey are worse than thieves,they do not protect the citizens they were sworn in to protect.
I can't tell you how many times I have had to argue with them,once they delayed me because of a 1 dollar note that was in my purse (I like to collect currencies,and the dollar note was with some old naira notes as well)
The officer said where did I get the dollar (1 dollar ooo) note from and I ended up in the station for that reason.
Na WA o. Sorry dear.
ReplyDeleteThat is how they cocked their gun and chased our driver from maryland bus stop to odo iya alaro bridge forcing him to stop suddenly even when a tanker is coming risking other passengerslife just because he dropped a passenger at maryland at the end of the day na N200 settled it. Alapere division police tweh
DeleteFeel your pain. Good that you brought it out. Foolish and frustrated policemen.
ReplyDeleteThat was how one spoilt my camera they brought from US 5 years ago. The foolish policeman collected it and damaged it. I was just passing through Aguda last year and i saw him, i just said to myself if i use my car on him now, i will just claim brake failure. Idiots all of them.
Stella I just like how you've chosen to use your blog to positively affect the voiceless and masses.
ReplyDeleteSARS SARS SARS GOD IS WATCHING YOU
this is what police men do now. They stop young men search them go through their phones and chat if you have a foreign number you are tagged a yahoo boy, If you have a laptop on you same thing. Young men no longer walk freely these days.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your experience
ReplyDeleteYou should have at least pick one of their names. When did it become a crime to smile.
Bunch of pigs in black
Those sars are illiterate, sorry to the literate ones.
ReplyDeleteWhy were you laughing with a policeman? I don't get that laughing part at all. You are an educated fellow I believe you should know how best to talk your way out when you are with all these uniform men. Maybe, you were posing for them, they decided to unleash their frustration on you.
ReplyDeleteI hope they can be found and dealt with by the highest authority, police are the same everywhere in the world, you just have to learn how to find your way around them.
I know policemen can't slap me, when I no carry gun, I will talk my way out. You need to be street wise my friend.
This one is very senseless. Small thing u won't understand. Where in his write up did he say he was laughing 'with' the police.
DeleteI know you dey do your period. I will pardon you. Eleriibu.
DeleteDon. Does that make it right? So someone cannot smile in thier own country again? You are sure he was posing. Do you know the meaning of the word sure? You were not there so how can you be SURE. Pls just shut up if you have nothing to say. Its because if people like u police misbehave. They we're just frustrated because they saw money etc and had ni excuse to collect anything.
DeleteThis Don Pls start using your brain now. You always talk like a fool
DeleteSorry for your ordeal...Nigeria is a mess
ReplyDeleteNext time get names and number on their uniforms and don't argue. Those ones who stop travellers are the most dangerous. I was travelling about a month ago with my husband and the police man who stopped us along a very lonely Road actually told us to find him something as per, in his words " this na no man's land" meaning, he could do anything and get away with it. All the time we were there, not a single car passed. We just gave him N100 and drove off o
ReplyDeleteDirect this report to the appropriate personel.
ReplyDeleteThey will take it more serious that's if you want something be done about it.
I thought with the change of their uniform from black to blue and black, their mentality would change also......but mehn, guess it didn't
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my BILs friend,he had just got in for the U.K. And coming to my house,he wore a blue timberland blue shirt,backpack and shades.those police men hides under ojuelegba bridge and runs to block your fancy car/harasss you on foot.they bundled the guy into the car and zoomed towards yaba,after all the drama he gave them 5k.he was so shaky when he got home that he refused to wear the timbolo back home,had to give him hubbys sneaker(hahahahha)
ReplyDeleteWhy did you not memorize at least one officer's name. Useless people.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what our president and vice are doing about these police officers, the things happening these days are becoming too much, Stella please help us to really speak out
ReplyDeleteSorry about your ordeal mahn,also had an experience with one at Kaduna .
ReplyDeleteI drive a school bus , so at krpc express I tried overtaking two vehicles unknowingly to me they were on a convoy probably with an NNPC staff in one of the cars without a siren o .... Lo n behold a black looking castrated being cocked his gun from one of the cars at me threatening to shoot if I overtake
How insensible ?? Clearly seeing a school bus
Nigeria police men are bunch of idiots that are worse than thieves ,
ReplyDeleteThey tried to harass me on Sunday along iba IGANDO rd when am coming back from my show by 2am can u imagine the 1st set collected 400naira & the 2nd set insist that we will follow them to station I told them to Pls help me get a taxi home then I can come for my car tomorrow since na car they wan arrest they later left us after paying them another 400 Naira. Useless set of idiots I hate them with passion, they are the only pple I wish death.