In a series of allegations by residents
of the area, men of the Igando Police Division were said to have simply
turned commercial bus drivers in the area to cash cows, whom they
terrorise and extort money from at will.
The anger that culminated in these
allegations came from the death of 46-year-old Ijaduola, who lost his
life for offering to pay just N300 out of the N500 demanded by the
police corporal identified simply as Taiwo.
The Lagos State Police Command has so
far refused to take any responsibility for the death of the father of
three, saying he died because he suffered a seizure.
There is so far no indication that an action would be taken against the erring policewoman.
But if the multiple accusations by
commercial bus drivers under the jurisdiction of the police division are
anything to go by, the extortion that led to the death of Ijaduola was
part of a larger tradition in the area.
When our correspondent visited the area,
every commercial driver approached had one thing or another to say
about their own extortion experience in the hands of the policemen.
One of such bus drivers, Ajao, who
refused to identify himself fully, told our correspondent that when his
danfo bus was impounded for a few days some months ago, he was forced to
pay N15,000 before it could be released to him.
He said, “Till today, I don’t know what I
did wrong. There is one notorious man usually at the bus stop in
Igando. He is one of those in the divisional transport office. He
believes it is his right to collect money from us every day.
“He demanded N1,000 that day and I told
him I could not give him that amount since he was not the only one I
would be giving money to on the road that day. I begged him to collect
N200 so that I could give him N200 more later. Then, he dragged me out
of my vehicle and he and his colleague drove my bus to the station.
“I thought they were joking when I was
told that I had to pay N20,000 for my bus to be released. After much
begging, I paid N15,0fore I got the bus back. As old as I am, I
prostrated at the station before they even collected the N15,000. I
cursed them that day though.”
One danfo driver, who declined
mentioning his name, citing the fact that he is well known in the area,
said he too had lost nothing less than N10,000 to policemen from the
division in the last five months through extortion.
“When you cannot relocate and there is
no one you can complain to, what do you do? Some of them behave as if
they are our friends, but when it comes to extorting money from us, they
behave like criminals,” he said.
According to him, there is little or
nothing the drivers’ union in the area can do to reduce the way
commercial bus drivers are being extorted.
In January, men of the Igando Police
Division allegedly caused an accident which claimed two lives while
allegedly extorting money from a tricycle.
The policemen were said to have stopped a
tricycle rider at Iyana School Bus Stop, Igando, to collect money from
him in the middle of the road forcing a speeding SUV to hit the
tricycle. The driver reportedly died on the spot while the passenger of a
commercial bus involved in the collision reportedly died also.
But it seems the trouble with the Igando policemen is not limited to commercial bus drivers.
Residents told Saturday PUNCH that illegal raids conducted by the policemen with the sole purpose of extorting money from young men are also rampant.
In March, Victor Olayiwola, said he was
in a club in Igando with his friends, when policemen from the Igando
division stormed the place and raided every man they could lay their
hands on.
The police often say they have the rights to conduct raids on criminal hideouts.
But Olayiwola said after they were locked up at the Igando police station, they were not questioned about any criminal issue.
He said, “They told us we were each
going to pay N10,000 and released. When we asked what we had done wrong,
one of them simply said, ‘Keep asking questions, you will stay long in
this cell.’
“Truly, someone who had up to N10,000 in
his pocket at the time was released, while those who could arrange some
money by calling their relations or friends were released after. I
slept in the cell till the following day when a friend of mine came with
N10,000 to effect my release.”
Such illegal raids are also common in other divisions across the state.
In November 2015, some policemen
attached to the anti-robbery section of the State Department of
Criminal, Yaba, were arrested after they were reported to have carried
out a raid on a club at Festac, Lagos where they arrested some young men
among whom was a journalist who was brutalised before they extorted
money from him.
Other residents told Saturday PUNCH that
most cases either minor or major always end up being used as a tool for
policemen at the division to extort money heavily from people.
“The policemen here are notorious for
extortion. Everybody here is tired of all the nonsense they do in the
name of money. The problem is that if you report them to their DPO, you
will end up being the victim because you will suffer for it. Some of
them behave worse than criminals sometimes,” a commercial motorcyclist,
Victor Agabi, told said.
According to him, on many occasions,
motorcycles of his colleagues have been seized for no just particular
reason by policemen from the station forcing them to pay money to get
them released.
The Igando DPO, Mr. Ayodele Arogbo, told
our correspondent that he would never tolerate any form of illegality
or extortion by his men.
According to him, members of the public
have the right to tip him off to such illegal acts or even send him
texts identifying the erring policemen anonymously.
“But the problem is that many people
make very frivolous accusations. But no one under me would do something
as illegal as that and goes scot-free. I am a straight-forward officer
who has served in different capacities before. I know my job,” he said.
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