A Human Rights group, the Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of
Law, says citizens of Southeast and South-south regions of Nigeria have
forcefully paid about N306 billion at police roadblocks in the past 50
months (August 2015-Oct. 2019).
Mr Emeka Umeagbalasi and other principal officials of Intersociety made
this known in a four-page statement in Awka on Wednesday.
It stated that the group came up with the figures after a special
thorough research of police extortions in the two regions.
“The staggering sum of N306b or $1b (at official exchange rate of about
N306 per US$) had been paid at gunpoint in the past 50 months or between
August 2015 and Oct 2019 by citizens of Southeast and South-south or old
Eastern Nigeria including Delta and Edo States to estimated 600 military
and 6,300 police roadblocks in the two regions.
“The extra increase or additional N206b from our Dec 2018 research
figure of N100b was as a result of extension of our field trip research
to the South-south or Niger Delta Region where additional 400 military
and 3000 police roadblocks were discovered and examined.
This is in addition to further increase of military roadblocks in the
Southeast from 150 and police roadblocks from 3000, as at Dec 2018, to
200 and 3,300 respectively.
“The research, therefore, covered the eleven States of Edo, Delta,
Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi
and Imo, covering August 2015 to Oct 2019 or total of 50 months.
“In our Dec 2018 report, only the five Southeast States of Anambra,
Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo were covered and examined,” it stated.
According to the group, While the 6,300 police roadblocks illicitly
collected N250b from Easterners, the 600 military roadblocks criminally
took home N56b.
“The report further showed that average of N6.4b was illicitly collected
monthly, out of the N306b and N76b yearly in the said past four years
and two months.
“The N250b illicitly took by the Police constitutes over 80% of the
annual budget of the Force, which is N300b or over 20% annually in the
past four years at annual average of N61.5b.
“The forceful payments and their illicit collection took place between
August 2015 and Oct 2019 at various roadblocks manned by not less than
34,000 armed personnel of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force and Nigeria
Police Force stationed on old Eastern Roads and other public arenas in
the two regions.
“The special report was built on our 2018 report which concentrated on
Southeast. The latest referenced report is strictly concentrated on
military and police roadblock extortion in the Southeast and the
South-south.
“It did not include police, military and other security custody based
extortionist practices including “bail fees” and commercialization of
criminal investigations.
“The report also did not include aviation (airport’s arrival and
departure wings), waterway, railway and border extortionist practices by
concerned security personnel as well as roadway extortion by
paramilitaries such as Federal Road Safety Corps, National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Services and the Nigeria
Security & Civil Defense Corps, etc,” it added.
It noted that the special report further exposes the real motives behind
incessant of military build-up and police siege in the two regions
“It will be recalled that August 2015 marked the beginning of
militarization and police siege of Southeast and South-south regions.
This took place barely three months after Mohammad Buhari, a retired
army major general was sworn in as Nigeria’s sixth elective or civilian
president on 29th May 2015.
“The report is also in response to the proposed military operations in
Eastern Nigeria, code named: “Operation Python Dance IV” and “Operation
Crocodile Smile IV”, scheduled for 1st Nov to Christmas Eve of Dec 2019
as well as planned flooding of the two regions particularly the
Southeast with alleged greater number of “Federal Road Tollgates”.
“This is even as it is found that 70% of all Federal Roads in Eastern
Nigeria are a death trap,” it said.
It added that modern techniques in social research were applied in the
course of this research.
“They include sampling techniques such as random sampling, field trips,
monitoring and evaluation. Media reports (literature review) and series
of interviews with the victim population (i.e. private car owners and
commercial transporters including drivers of long lorries, tippers,
SHUTTLE and L-300 buses as well as tricycle and motorcycle riders,
passengers and roadway property owners and other road users) were also
used.
“In modern social research, too, rooms are allowed for approximations,
estimations and projections. These were applied where necessary in the
course of this special research report.
“Above all, Intersociety has also made a name especially in the
monitoring and report of police and military roadblock and other forms
of roadway extortion in Nigeria particularly in the Southeas,” it
affirmed.
Below are pictures:
Photo (1) shows one of the hired civilian agents armed with stick
forcing commercial motorists to part with roadblock bribe for the
military (photo taken in late 2018 at Aba), (2) photo (10) shows the
criminal toll ticket of N50 imposed by the Nigerian Army in Enugu on
every KEKE rider (photo taken in Dec 2018), photo (3) shows the outlook
of the Atani Road Junction Naval Checkpoint in Onitsha, one of the most
“lucrative” military checkpoints in Eastern Nigeria (photo taken in mid
2018 at Uga/Atani Road Junction in Onitsha), photo (4) shows a police
SARS operative collecting N1000 bribe at Eastern roadblock (photo taken
in Oct 2019), photo (5) shows a roadblock police team leader collecting
N100 in two N50 notes at Eastern roadblock (photo taken in late 2017).
The rest are photo (6) shows a MOPOL police officer collecting N200 in
two N100 notes from a Lorry driver at Eastern roadblock (photo taken in
late 2016), photo (7) shows a MOPOL police officer pocketing bribe he
collected from a KEKE rider at Aba metropolis (photo taken in late
2018), photo (8) shows a police officer demanding for bribe along
Aba-Port Harcourt Road (photo taken on 14th Oct 2019), photo (9) shows
another police officer pocketing bribe he collected (photo taken along
Aba-Port Harcourt Road on 14th Oct 2019) and photo (10) shows same
police officer collecting N200 bribe from a commercial motorist (photo
taken along Aba-Port Harcourt Road on 14th Oct 2019) and photo (10)
shows the criminal toll ticket of N50 imposed by the Nigerian Army in
Enugu on every KEKE rider (photo taken in Dec 2018).
