Daddy, do you know that on their way back to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, members of my business team who came to my wedding had a horrible encounter with police officers who stationed themselves on Airport Road.
Really? What happened? I saw them at the wedding reception and they were many. They all wore white.
Yes, they did. One Uber taxi took two of them from the reception at Alimosho to catch their evening flight back to Abuja, and they were stopped for searching by these police.
Did the policemen find anything incriminating on them?
Nothing of such! Daddy, you saw them, none of them even spotted a “Rasta” or “Dada” hairstyle. These are decent, hardworking gentlemen, doing clean business. The policemen became excited upon seeing that the guys were using iPhones. These policemen seized the phones, scrolled through their bank balance and forced them to transfer money.
No way! No policeman, in the first place, has any right to search anybody’s phone. Their Police Public Relations Officers keep hammering this fact on Twitter and all social media platforms where they interact with the public. Even the Commissioners of Police say the same thing.
These police on Airport Road did ooo! They delayed the guys and threatened to ensure they missed their flights should those ones refuse to cooperate. Initially, the cops asked for N200,000 per person; but in the end they settled for N100,000 per man.
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No way, N100,000 –for what exactly?
My friends were initially stubborn and refused to pay. But the police ordered their Uber to park, and told my people: “Be speaking English there instead of cooperating.” When those ones saw that time was running and they could miss their flights, they quickly lent themselves sense and negotiated a settlement. They did cash transfer. And Daddy, do you know the painful part of the whole story?
What?
We will keep writing and pushing until their ogas are forced to pull these rogue cops off that Airport axis. They have no business being there –no business at all, especially since they are using it to exploit people.
They boys still ended up missing their flight. When the Uber finally got them to the airport, the plane was rolling onto the tarmac for takeoff. They had to sleep at the airport till the following day.
Eeyah! What a pity. Nigerian police are very wicked.
When they phoned to report the incident to me, they said this could never have happened in another state, and that is why they could never live in Lagos and detest travelling to Lagos.
This is very sad. And do you know that this sort of criminal exploitation triggered the #EndSARS protests in 2020 and led to the disbandment of SARS by President Muhammadu Buhari?
Our police will never learn.
I know that airport axis very well. Just the other day on Twitter, Omoyele Sowore, Publisher of SaharaREPORTERS defied these same police team. I am sure it was the same team. He was also in a cab and when he got to that spot they told his vehicle to park. Sowore told the driver not to budge. They abused him, before finally removing themselves out of the way for the car to go.
That is the best way to treat these bastards.
You know quite well that people are on their way to board planes and you have the insensitivity to stop them.
It is deliberate. They feel that anyone heading to the airport must be loaded with money. Additionally, such people are passengers hurrying to catch a flight and would pay any amount to not miss their plane.
Which police stations are even in that axis self? That would be Mafoluku Oshodi, Aswani Isolo or Airport. DPOs there must be made to answer for this criminality. Even the Lagos State Police Commissioner can’t say he knows nothing about this perfidy. What are they doing along that road? They are up to eight and they would just spread themselves through the service lane, stopping vehicles. They are not interested in whether vehicle particulars are correct. Their mission there is solely to milk wayfarers.
This is very satanic. Heads have to roll. Do you know that just to avoid the stress of these Lagos cops, I know someone who moves around with a police escort in his car every single day?
But that must cost a hefty sum! How much does he pay to have an armed policeman with him in the car?
I have not asked him. But it cannot be less than N20,000.
That’s some baddest money! Meaning if he uses a police escort for the entire month, he will pay anything between N400,000 to N600,000.
Something in that region, but he feels safer –absolutely zero police harassment. A young IT Engineer driving a powerful car, with a laptop and an iPhone in tow, the guy knows that he fits the jaundiced profiling these cops have fixed on Nigerian youth and he can easily become their target.
We will keep writing and pushing until their ogas are forced to pull these rogue cops off that Airport axis. They have no business being there –no business at all, especially since they are using it to exploit people. But your associates really impressed me. Do you mean that the lot came all the way from Abuja just for your wedding?
Yes o! They did. They really impressed me too. I was surprised to see so many of them at the reception.
See the way they were spraying you with money. Hope they all ate, sha.
I already made adequate arrangements for them. I told K to take care of them. They all sat in one place in the hall and I could see from the platform that my orders were implemented to the letter. Their food and drinks were kept separate. I trusted K to deliver and she didn’t disappoint.
Can you imagine that after all that beautiful outing, some yeye, God-forsaken, rogue policemen would spoil the joy of that memorable day? God punish them.
*Oboagwina is an author, journalist and publisher. He is reachable via: [email protected]
