The man must be the greatest joker of the century! How could he say that knowing full well what his trigger-happy men are capable of doing?” noted John, a commuter in this Mile 2-bound commuter bus in reaction to a statement credited to a bigwig in the Nigeria Police Force, warning motorists and commercial motorcyclists (Okada) to desist from giving the police money at checkpoints.
“So many innocent people have been deleted from the surface of the earth because they refused to part with N20.00 bribe,” he continued.
“It’s a good thing if they can enforce it. We don’t lack good laws in this country. What we lack is the will to enforce the laws. It is all right for him to sit in the comfort of his air-conditioned office and tell us what to do and what not to do, but those who wear the shoe know where it pinches,” said Tim.
“And the way they demand for this money, one would think the motorists and Okada riders owe them a debt which must be paid. The commercial bus drivers are expected to be ready with the bribe money any time they approach a police check-point. The policemen usually get really angry if the driver fails to comply and waits to be reminded to do his ‘legitimate’ duty.
This ‘insubordination’ usually earns him some beating or a bullet through his windscreen or tyres,” said Obi, adding: “From N20, to N50 and now, it is N100, you know, a consequence of the global financial meltdown being experienced the world over.
Narrated John: “I was in a bus one day when a policeman at a checkpoint flagged down our vehicle, expecting the driver to hand over the mandatory N100. The driver brought out N50 to give him and as soon as the policeman saw that it was N50 and not N100, he got furious and asked the driver to respect himself, whereupon the driver told him he could not afford to give him N100 as it was still too early and he had not made much money.
The next thing we saw was that the policeman raised his baton and brought it down heavily on the windscreen which instantly shattered into smithereens. This annoyed the driver and even the passengers. Another round of argument started as the driver insisted the erring policeman must pay for the windscreen.
Passers-by who witnessed what happened were blaming the policeman for causing such damage simply because of N100, saying his action was too drastic. It was like shooting an annoying mosquito with a double-barrel gun; while some blamed the driver for not doing what he was supposed to do. Any way, a female commuter eventually brokered peace between the policeman and the driver.
She asked the driver the price of the windscreen and he told her. She then said that the police must not collect money from the driver any time he passed that route until it equalled the amount for a new windscreen. Everybody was satisfied.”
Commented Yinka: “That was a wise decision. Thank God his colleagues did not come to defend him, otherwise, the whole thing would have escalated.”
“Actually some of them came but when they saw what he did and saw the crowd, they couldn’t say a word,” stated John.
“The funny thing is that the more the Police authorities tell us that they have banned those illegal roadblocks, the more they spring up. Does it mean those who give the order don’t see the order being flouted?” asked Nike
“It’s all gimmicks. Forget what is written on the body of the vehicle and just enter the vehicle. The orders are just to confuse the ordinary man on the street. Is it not the same high ranking officers that send these ones out in the streets to make returns? And they must meet their targets or else they are removed from there and sent to offices where they would not see money,” stated Joe.
Said Jide: “But haven’t you noticed that the number of check points have reduced drastically since the new I-G came in?” “Hmm,” scoffed Oby, “Let’s wait and see. Just give them a few weeks and I bet you, they will flood the roads again. Even now, I’m aware that some of them come out as early as 4.00am and as late as 9.00pm under the cover of darkness to extort money from drivers.”
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