If you are the very sensitive type, you’ll discover that just in one day, the number of bad cops that will display misconduct while on duty will shock you. Through embarrassing actions, they throw the image of the Nigerian police deeper into the soaker pit. A good number of our officers on the road need help.
This matter of extorting money from commuters is now normal anathema.
Granted that there are officers who are our friends; who discharge their duties conscientiously and assiduously, the female officer on duty on the afternoon of October 5, 2025, at Costain bus stop, Surulere, Lagos, needs a reorientation. She needs help! The female officer pushed past a small crowd of passengers at the bus stop while running after a commercial bus popularly known as Danfo. Her attention was divided between the squeezed naira notes packed in a black tattered nylon and the Danfo driver who was escaping. We are used to some officers extorting money from transporters but an officer on duty, with rough naira notes in such dirty nylon? Very disappointing! Heads that turned towards her as she ran after the Danfo told the whole story.
That officer needs help. Otherwise, since it appears she and her colleagues were doing the now normal thing, why not stash her spoils in a decent bag. Yes nah, since it appears they’ve obtained a license to collect 200 naira. That sight was a national disgrace.
The Nigerian police officers who are beginning to work like the citizens are the ones frustrating them, need serious help. Why take out your frustration on already frustrated Nigerians?
In spite of their act of brutality upon us, which is increasing in shapes, style, and intensity, we still need to raise the alarm about how much the bad officers are demarketing Nigeria.
After reading the book, “The Syndicate Affairs” by Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, Chidi Okoye, it became certain that the government needs to do something.
Here is another officer who needs help. He was at another checkpoint in Lagos, same day. His utterance and attitude would make you believe he had permission from higher authority to extort people. The Korope (mini bus) driver thought he had escaped from this officer who needed to collect his usual, only to be blocked by a second officer. The officer landed his big stick on the Korope. “Why you dey run? He roared. “You no wan make we deliver?” Deliver? Deliver what exactly? And to whom please? It’s so disappointing that the government hasn’t been able to put a stop to this anomaly. These officers need help ortherwise, this matter may never go away.
The bad conduct of some police officers, especially on the road, needs to be checked. They tell you, ‘police is your friend’ but they hardly behave like one when you encounter them. At Itamaga in Ikorodu one evening, the officers who mounted guard there stopped a Korope driver to collect money. A passenger who was visible drunk questioned why the vehicle stopped. Next, we heard was, “Who talk that thing? Everyone adjusted. The man was dragged down, forced to kneel as a very hot slap landed on his face simultaneously. It took two brave passengers to beg before he was pardoned. They didn’t care that the man was visibly wasted from much alcohol. That’s not friendship! Those officers need help. Sometimes. the traffic they cause within that roundabout can be frustrating.
The same day, October 25, 2025, I spotted another officer in dire need of help; an urgent and serious help, actually. The officer forced himself into a Danfo inward Ketu. The driver and conductor didn’t want him to board the bus since he wouldn’t pay. This time, the officer was heavily hammered. He threatened to beat up a young girl who complained about time wasting when officers at one of their check points stopped the bus to collect money. Why would an officer drink like that even if it was after duty? The rubbish he kept vomiting from his mouth all through the trip made passengers squirm. He kept talking about why it’s okay to loot, provided that you allow others to also loot. He spoke in pidgin. He boasted to whoever was listening, that once he got to ‘Igbodo’ a place we weren’t sure existed, he would engage in marathon intercourse with as many ladies as he wanted. He talked until he got down at Maryland. You see why that officer needs urgent help.
It’s common to watch on social media, videos showing one form of brutality, or the other by officers who are supposed to be trained to protect citizens. That shouldn’t be.
There is serious economic pressure in Nigeria now. Yes, we buy from same market so, common, you are putting more pressure on struggling Nigerians who are merely surviving by extorting them. Oh! you never knew that by extorting commercial drivers, you are robbing Nigerians because the passengers end up paying more for transportation. You need help!
By right, the police should be a mirror to society. The way they carry out their duty, especially on the roads, which honestly is a difficult one, tells on the image of the country.
As a matter of urgency, government needs to look into this abnormality that has to do with officers collecting ‘200’ naira from commercial drivers and Okada riders. It should stop. It’s a national disgrace. It is taking away respect from gallant officers. Our officers should also understand that the citizens are not their enemies. They work for us, not against us. The citizens are so afraid of them as if they’re fiends. For us to accept them as our friends, they need help to change.
.Originally written for Saturday Vanguard’s column, WEEKEND THRILLS.
