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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Human Rights group, the Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of
\nLaw, says citizens of Southeast and South-south regions of Nigeria have
\nforcefully paid about N306 billion at police roadblocks in the past 50
\nmonths (August 2015-Oct. 2019).<\/p>\n
Mr Emeka Umeagbalasi and other principal officials of Intersociety made
\nthis known in a four-page statement in Awka on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
It stated that the group came up with the figures after a special
\nthorough research of police extortions in the two regions.<\/p>\n
“The staggering sum of N306b or $1b (at official exchange rate of about
\nN306 per US$) had been paid at gunpoint in the past 50 months or between
\nAugust 2015 and Oct 2019 by citizens of Southeast and South-south or old
\nEastern Nigeria including Delta and Edo States to estimated 600 military
\nand 6,300 police roadblocks in the two regions.<\/p>\n
“The extra increase or additional N206b from our Dec 2018 research
\nfigure of N100b was as a result of extension of our field trip research
\nto the South-south or Niger Delta Region where additional 400 military
\nand 3000 police roadblocks were discovered and examined.<\/p>\n
This is in addition to further increase of military roadblocks in the
\nSoutheast from 150 and police roadblocks from 3000, as at Dec 2018, to
\n200 and 3,300 respectively.<\/p>\n
“The research, therefore, covered the eleven States of Edo, Delta,
\nRivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi
\nand Imo, covering August 2015 to Oct 2019 or total of 50 months.<\/p>\n
“In our Dec 2018 report, only the five Southeast States of Anambra,
\nAbia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo were covered and examined,” it stated.<\/p>\n
According to the group, While the 6,300 police roadblocks illicitly
\ncollected N250b from Easterners, the 600 military roadblocks criminally
\ntook home N56b.<\/p>\n
“The report further showed that average of N6.4b was illicitly collected
\nmonthly, out of the N306b and N76b yearly in the said past four years
\nand two months.<\/p>\n
“The N250b illicitly took by the Police constitutes over 80% of the
\nannual budget of the Force, which is N300b or over 20% annually in the
\npast four years at annual average of N61.5b.<\/p>\n
“The forceful payments and their illicit collection took place between
\nAugust 2015 and Oct 2019 at various roadblocks manned by not less than
\n34,000 armed personnel of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force and Nigeria
\nPolice Force stationed on old Eastern Roads and other public arenas in
\nthe two regions.<\/p>\n
“The special report was built on our 2018 report which concentrated on
\nSoutheast. The latest referenced report is strictly concentrated on
\nmilitary and police roadblock extortion in the Southeast and the
\nSouth-south.<\/p>\n
“It did not include police, military and other security custody based
\nextortionist practices including “bail fees” and commercialization of
\ncriminal investigations.<\/p>\n
“The report also did not include aviation (airport’s arrival and
\ndeparture wings), waterway, railway and border extortionist practices by
\nconcerned security personnel as well as roadway extortion by
\nparamilitaries such as Federal Road Safety Corps, National Drug Law
\nEnforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Services and the Nigeria
\nSecurity & Civil Defense Corps, etc,” it added.<\/p>\n
It noted that the special report further exposes the real motives behind
\nincessant of military build-up and police siege in the two regions<\/p>\n
“It will be recalled that August 2015 marked the beginning of
\nmilitarization and police siege of Southeast and South-south regions.
\nThis took place barely three months after Mohammad Buhari, a retired
\narmy major general was sworn in as Nigeria’s sixth elective or civilian
\npresident on 29th May 2015.<\/p>\n
“The report is also in response to the proposed military operations in
\nEastern Nigeria, code named: “Operation Python Dance IV” and “Operation
\nCrocodile Smile IV”, scheduled for 1st Nov to Christmas Eve of Dec 2019
\nas well as planned flooding of the two regions particularly the
\nSoutheast with alleged greater number of “Federal Road Tollgates”.<\/p>\n
“This is even as it is found that 70% of all Federal Roads in Eastern
\nNigeria are a death trap,” it said.<\/p>\n
It added that modern techniques in social research were applied in the
\ncourse of this research.<\/p>\n
“They include sampling techniques such as random sampling, field trips,
\nmonitoring and evaluation. Media reports (literature review) and series
\nof interviews with the victim population (i.e. private car owners and
\ncommercial transporters including drivers of long lorries, tippers,
\nSHUTTLE and L-300 buses as well as tricycle and motorcycle riders,
\npassengers and roadway property owners and other road users) were also
\nused.<\/p>\n
“In modern social research, too, rooms are allowed for approximations,
\nestimations and projections. These were applied where necessary in the
\ncourse of this special research report.<\/p>\n
“Above all, Intersociety has also made a name especially in the
\nmonitoring and report of police and military roadblock and other forms
\nof roadway extortion in Nigeria particularly in the Southeas,” it
\naffirmed.<\/p>\n
Below are pictures:<\/p>\n
Photo (1) shows one of the hired civilian agents armed with stick
\nforcing commercial motorists to part with roadblock bribe for the
\nmilitary (photo taken in late 2018 at Aba), (2) photo (10) shows the
\ncriminal toll ticket of N50 imposed by the Nigerian Army in Enugu on
\nevery KEKE rider (photo taken in Dec 2018), photo (3) shows the outlook
\nof the Atani Road Junction Naval Checkpoint in Onitsha, one of the most
\n“lucrative” military checkpoints in Eastern Nigeria (photo taken in mid
\n2018 at Uga\/Atani Road Junction in Onitsha), photo (4) shows a police
\nSARS operative collecting N1000 bribe at Eastern roadblock (photo taken
\nin Oct 2019), photo (5) shows a roadblock police team leader collecting
\nN100 in two N50 notes at Eastern roadblock (photo taken in late 2017).<\/p>\n
The rest are photo (6) shows a MOPOL police officer collecting N200 in
\ntwo N100 notes from a Lorry driver at Eastern roadblock (photo taken in
\nlate 2016), photo (7) shows a MOPOL police officer pocketing bribe he
\ncollected from a KEKE rider at Aba metropolis (photo taken in late
\n2018), photo (8) shows a police officer demanding for bribe along
\nAba-Port Harcourt Road (photo taken on 14th Oct 2019), photo (9) shows
\nanother police officer pocketing bribe he collected (photo taken along
\nAba-Port Harcourt Road on 14th Oct 2019) and photo (10) shows same
\npolice officer collecting N200 bribe from a commercial motorist (photo
\ntaken along Aba-Port Harcourt Road on 14th Oct 2019) and photo (10)
\nshows the criminal toll ticket of N50 imposed by the Nigerian Army in
\nEnugu on every KEKE rider (photo taken in Dec 2018).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n