If you have never encountered the police in Nigeria, you are lucky. The reason is that some of these Nigerian Policemen and women are unprofessional, and most are always out to extort the common man instead of helping and securing them. Do not get me wrong, they are good policemen and women out there, but they are not many; the bad ones are more than the good ones. Ever since I was born, I had a good encounter with the police force as I felt protected around them due to the riot that was happening at where I was at that time. All the other times have been memories I have been hoping to forget, but I still get nightmares about them. Hopefully, writing about it will get me some pieces I need.
So my last encounter with the police saw me sleep in the police cell for the first time. This encounter was on the 1st of October, and the issue broke Carmel's back, which made me relocate from Oshodi, Lagos, to Abule Egba. These policemen arrested me for wandering as I was just attending church for Friday vigil service. I could not believe my ears and eyes when this police men forcefully tried to push me into their vehicle. I resisted because they did not even identify themselves, and only a few of them were actually on police uniforms at that time.
It was a very tense moment, and I will not lie. I was ready to fight with all three to escape and not enter that police van. As I resisted, their boss, who was growing impatient, came down and cock his gun at me, saying enter or I waste you (Meaning enter or I will shoot you). At the sight of the senior official cocking his gun and pointing it at me, I knew this person was out for blood, so I asked for identification which one showed me, but he covered his name, so I won't be able to identify him. I entered the van, and the policeman drove me to their station.
On getting to the Police station, I saw other people just like me who had been illegally captured due to this raid that this policeman had conducted. I saw people with drumsticks and drums heading to church also captured, and I was like, wow. It was a nightmare as the whole operation was illegal and should not have taken place in the first place. The man in charge of this illegal raid and operation was named Worldbest in Akinpelu police station at Oshodi, Lagos state. I hope he gets served what he had dished.
When it was the morning of the next day, which was Saturday, they started demanding that we call people to come and bail us and they should bring cash. So I called a friend I know can get cash to come and bail me out. She paid 10 thousand Naira in cash to bail me from the police cell. I refunded her, of course, as I already had the money in my account, just that the policemen were not accepting that I make a transfer to them; they wanted just cash. World best; the policeman collected this money from us. We settled by me paying Ten thousand Naira as my bail money. So hilarious, right?
What I learnt about this whole experience is that:
- Police is not our friend as they are only concerned about themselves. A lot of the colleagues of the Policeman who arrested us (worldbest) were around at the police station, and they did nothing to intervene in the situation. They just watched as this illegal arrest was made
- Do not fight to argue with a policeman, especially when it's late at night or when people are not in sight, as these men could kill you and claim you are a thief or an armed robber gunned down.
- Avoid late-night work, and do not think for a second that your Work ID card could save you from being extorted by these policemen
- The police cells need to be rebuilt and properly cared for. The one I was in was smelling and dirty, and one could die from the smell in that cell.
- Nigeria's police force needs to be reformed, and the men and women must be retrained and re-oriented.
- Lastly, the Policemen and women are not your friends: I know I mentioned it as the first point, but this is a reminder to flee from policemen.