Still On Police Extortion

Corruption is one sore that has eaten deep into the fabric of the Nigerian nation. It cuts across all the facets of our national life. Apart from pilfering the national till by public office holders, top government officials are said to receive 10 per cent “kick-back” from contract awards. In the school system, the story is not different as some lecturers demand gratifications in cash or kind and award undeserving marks to their students. The office messenger is also not left out as he equally demands monetary reward for moving a file to the next table.
But, the most worrisome in our view is the fleecing of commercial motorists by police officers under the guise of checking vehicle particulars along virtually every road, sometimes busy streets and more dangerously, on highways across the country.
Although, the money these hapless motorists pay varies from one state to another, it is said that in states like Abia and Imo, drivers part with N20 at every police check-point, while, in the oil-rich Rivers State, the Suleiman Abba coppers charge as much as N50 at a given ‘toll gate’ that dots the state.
For example, between Rumuokwuta and Choba, both in Port Harcourt, there are no fewer than five of such check arenas that can easily go for extortion points. The same is true of traffic between Rumuolumeni and Ogbogoro. The legality or otherwise of these myriad of police check-points should have been the subject of another commentary.
But Lagos traders were said to have protested the existence of 16 of such extortion points along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, last Monday, an exercise that presents a need to further revisit the Malady. We say so because, the effrontery with which the police personnel demand and receive money from the motorists leaves one a conclusion that they should enjoy the full backing of their supervisors.
Besides, any attempt by a motorist to rebuff the extortion is often greeted with delay of all commuters and sometimes leads to the death of the driver which, they will readily attribute to accidental discharge. Therefore, rather than waste time or die in the hands of these lawless crop of the police, the motorists easily comply with the order, even when they have their complete and valid vehicle particulars.
With the police officers’ avid interest in funds illegally obtained from gullible motorists, it is not in question that stolen vehicles also pay their way through and are never detected on our roads because proper scrutiny of motorists and their documents have been thrown to the wind by those whose duty it is to check crime on our roads.
Apart from tarnishing the image of this country, especially now that we are re-branding, commuters are also forced to swallow the bitter pill of the police uncouth behaviour on our roads. They bear the brunt of indiscriminate fare hike by motorists to recoup the police-engineered shortfall.
For the umpteenth time, The Tide urges the police hierarchy to check this hydra-headed monster without delay moreso, now that a United States of American (USA) group has indicated interest to partner with the Nigeria police for enhanced productivity.
One way to achieve the feat is for the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ogbonna Onovo to invigorate the seeming comatose surveillance unit of the police which the former Inspector General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun used to fish out extortionists within the rank and file on our highways.
On their own part, motorists should endeavour to have all the relevant documents in order not to fall prey to these glorified highway robbers under the guise of policing us. They should also resist attempts by the police to forcefully collect money from them because the giver of bribe is as liable as the receiver, according to the law of the land.
In the same vein, the police must be reminded that their statutory duty is to protect lives and property of the citizenry rather than fleecing them, and therefore must rise up and check the now familiar extortionist tendency in their ranks.