Dear NAIJABLAB,
I am an unhappy resident of Ajah area of Lekki, Lagos. We are terribly suffering from daily Police extortion, harassment and forceful collection of money. As a result of the present disorganized nature of the Ajah road system, which is giving way to a major overhead bridge, police men (mopol inclusive) have seized the opportunity to harass citizens on the Ajah/Epe Express Road. They have no shame whatsoever.
We are facing daily extortion, even from those mopols who are stationed there at Ajah Junction to man the stationary Armoured Tanker near the market. They are so bored, they resort to collecting money from market women, Okada Riders, Danfo/Marwa Drivers, and innocent motorists who often have to suffer the tail-back heavy traffic coming out of Ado Road. In fact it is so disgraceful, it is like a collection point/Toll Gate. They are worse than tax collectors.
It is commonplace to see a police man in the middle of the road wielding a gun in one hand and holding plenty of 'stolen' naira notes in the other. They have thrown caution to the wind and do not give a sh*t. And then a little bit further down the road at the Abraham Adesanya Roundabout, we also have policemen in patrol vehicles (obviously from nearby Ajiwe Police Station) intimidating citizens for money.
A friend of mine committed a very minor traffic infraction at the roundabout lately, and the policemen in patrol vehicle insisted on collecting N50,000 from him, but he had to beg to pay N20,000. Lo and behold, they followed him to the nearby Zenith Bank to collect the money through his ATM. He was scared, as it appeared to be a Commando Style Operation, where they all rushed out and surrounded his car wielding guns......just for a mere traffic offence.
My question is....who says the police are your friends? Why and how can they be our friends if all they do is intimidate us and collect money from an already impoverished population. The IG of police should better step in now before the people get pushed to the wall, and fight back. You people (the police) ought to be ashamed of yourself. I have copied this letter to the Governor Ambode Public Complaints Team, and hope the governor will call his state police commissioner to order.
Thank you NAIJABLAB for reaching out to many Nigerians home and abroad.
Dr. David Fashipe
(VGC Hospital)
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