Officially Cloaked Bullies
"Baby, can I watch an episode on Telemundo before we head out?" Acha asked her boyfriend, Arinze who had just come out of the bedroom.
Acha's attention was riveted to the TV screen, her favourite channel, Telemundo was in full gear to starting the next telenovela; Price of Fame and their dinner date had taken a back seat in Acha's mind.
Arinze stood looking at her. He still could not understand women's obsession with this TV channel. Acha never missed an episode, she would make sure to watch the replay of any episode she missed. They would miss their 8:00pm dinner reservation if they didn't set out in ten minutes. It was a 20-minute drive to the restaurant. There was not enough time for Acha to watch it now. She must know that but was only trying her luck. He had to find a way to change the channel before she became more engrossed, then he would not be able to tear her away from the TV. She had been looking forward to trying out this restaurant, for both their sakes, they needed to honour the reservation.
"I'm sorry babe, you know we barely have ten minutes before we leave else we would miss our reservation. You can always watch a repeat."
"Oh, that's true. We certainly don't want to miss our reservation." She agreed.
Well, that can been easy, Arinze thought. He had not expected her to give in without putting up a defense at least: his lawyer in the making.
"I'm glad you agree. Could you flip to any news channel, just to be sure we will make it out in good time?" he teased.
Acha laughed. They were not fond of watching news on television. They preferred to read it on social media blogs. She flipped to a News channel. The newscaster was saying something about a trending hash tag on social media started by the youth. Sound of jiggling keys distracted her. It was time to go.
They were ten minutes from their destination when police officers on night patrol flagged them down. Arinze wound down the glass window on reaching them. There were two of them; the one who had flagged them approached them.
"Good evening sir." They greeted in unison when he reached them. They did not get a response.
The interior lights Arinze had turned on illuminated the inside of the vehicle but the officer still ran the beam of a powerful flashlight around as though looking for a pin he had lost. He directed it to their faces, each at a time, leaving it there for a few seconds.
"Na who get this car?" Who owns this car? His voice rang out in pidgin language.
"It is mine sir," Arinze responded.
"Show me your particulars," the first police officer instructed.
Arinze reached for the papers and handed them to the officer.He flipped through the pages with the air of someone whose life depended on it. But judging from the speed with which he scanned through, you could almost tell he did not see a thing on those pages, unless he had a training in some form of super power reading.
"Oga, I dey check your papers and you sidon for car? Abeg, come down!" I'm checking your papers and you have the audacity to remain seated in the car? Please, get down!
The couple alighted from the car. Acha went across to the driver's side and they both watched the police officer.
"So, you mean say na you get this car? Wetin be your work? Wetin be your age? In short, make I see your drivers licence first." So you mean this car belongs to you. What do you do? How old are you? In fact, give me your driving license. He demanded.
Arinze produced the license from his wallet. The officer quickly studied it.
"So, you are only twenty-five years old and you say this car is yours?"
"It is mine sir," Arinze answered calmly.
The officer sized him up well before continuing.
"Open the boot of your car."
Arinze did as he asked. He followed the officer who went to peer into the now open boot.
"Is that not a laptop? What do you do with it? Why is it in the boot?"
"It is for my work. I prefer to keep it here sir until I have a use for it," Arinze answered.
He knew what he was doing. He knew the officer was looking for an excuse to extort money from him. Not today, he thought. His patience was starting to thin.
"Which work be that? Yahoo yahoo, abi? See as you do your hair, na only G-boys dey carry this kind hair. In short, I no fit judge this matter alone. My Oga!" What is the nature of your job. Isn't it Internet fraud? From the look of your haircut, that could only be it. As a matter of fact, I cannot conclude this matter on my own. Sir! He called to the second officer leaning against their official truck.
The second officer came over swiftly as though he had been waiting for the invitation.
"Help me judge this matter." Weigh in on this matter the first officer requested then went on to explain.
"See small boy like this get this car wey cost, get laptop inside him boot and carry dada for head. Wetin them dey call that one?" A young boy owns this very expensive car, has a laptop in the trunk of his car and wears dreads as his haircut. What would such a boy be called?
"Yahoo yahoo boy" Internet fraudster The second officer supplied.
Arinze had had enough.
"What is the meaning of this, officers? I was rushing for an appointment which I have now missed because of you. My car papers are faultless, so what exactly is the problem?"
The officers looked at each other then burst out laughing.
"This one is still speaking grammar." The first officer said still laughing. ‘This one’ meant Arinze.
"My friend I will tell you the problem." The second officer offered mockingly. "You are suspected of internet fraud."
"How did I go from a routine car check to being accused of fraud?" Arinze asked no one in particular.
"Is that not what you do? Surrender your phone for searching." instructed, the second officer.
"But that is my private property. You would be invading my privacy." Arinze argued.
They laughed loudly again.
"Him say na invasion of privacy. If I land you slap now, you go give me your phone." He calls it invasion of privacy. If I give you a slap, you will surrender your phone to me the first officer threatened.
"I won't do that." Arinze retorted.
The officers without another word searched his pockets for his phone. It was not on him, so they searched his car where they found his phone; a password protected iPhone.
"See the kain big phone wey you dey use. Ole. Unlock am." Look at the expensive phone you use too. Thief. Unlock it. The first officer demanded.
Arinze refused to unlock the phone, not even when they threatened to smash it. The second officer slipped the phone into his pocket. He said he had confiscated it.
Arinze wanted his phone back and asked for it at which point the second officer pointed his riffle at him assuring him it was loaded.
Acha had watched exasperatedly as matters quickly escalated. What was it with the ridiculous questions the officers were asking? They had no doubt missed their dinner reservation. She searched for a name tag on the officers. The first officer's tag read Shehu while the second's read Amos. She moved to intervene.
"Officers, it hasn't gotten to this. Please give him his phone, you have nothing against him."
Shehu faced her squarely. He gave her the same measuring look he had given her boyfriend earlier.
"Ashewo (prostitute). I had even forgotten about you. Shouldn't you be in school or something instead of going around town with men? You are wearing an ankle chain. The juju (charm) it contains cannot work on us. You had better shut your mouth or I will shut it for you" He finished.
"But what have we done to deserve this harassment? Are you not officers of the law?" Acha retorted.
"We are officers of the law and so what? Better tell your boyfriend to be submissive or he will rot in jail. If you are not careful, you would join him yourself."
"And what will our offenses be? Is he too young to be successful? This is harassment from you who are assigned to protect us."
"Assign ko, assignment ni(mimicry). Go and call your president to come and stand on the road himself. Useless girl." Shehu advised sarcastically.
Amos still had his riffle pointed at a visibly angry Arinze.
Arinze had heard stories of how trigger-happy officers bullied civilians; especially the youth as they went about their daily businesses but had never experienced it until now. What constitutes crime these days was laughable but not funny.
These rodent elements among the police force would let the actual criminals go unchecked if their palms were rightly greased only to turn around and harass, sometimes even assault innocents however they pleased.
You could be arrested for simply walking, dressing or even looking a certain way. You are a fraudster if you have foreign contacts on your phone or drove a big car. It was really sad that the state of the country had depreciated to such a level. Was there an age criterion for success? He knew what their ultimate goal was; money.
Arinze and Acha arrived home in the wee hours of the next morning. They had ended up at the station and had only been let go after a friend had brought over some money.
Bail money; they had called it. Who were they kidding? They had had nothing against him. He was no fraudster. He had given in only because of Acha else he would have dragged it on. He didn't want her going through this. She had looked so drained already.
Acha was the one who noticed the trending hash tag on social media later that day.
Joint voices calling for an end to the arm of the police force to which their harassers belonged. The youth, celebrities included, were protesting peacefully via social media against an institution that had lost sight of its vision and duty to protect. She remembered that it was what the newscaster had been reporting before they left for their dinner date that had not happened yesterday.
She and Arinze lend their voices to this cause. A cause they could very well relate with. Many had similar stories to tell; some far worse than theirs. There were cases of some who had been shot and those of very submissive individuals who had been battered. Something had to be done fast; if not a total dissolution, then an honest reorientation. They had just about had enough of this arbitrary harassment.
Images were obtained from pixabay
