₦airaland Forum

chatinent:
(c) chatinent

50 Illegal Things Nigerian Police Officers Do Everyday That You Didn't Know Were Unlawful

Good day, fellow Nigerians.

If there is one thing that has normalized oppression in this country, it is the fact that many of us do not know where police authority starts and where it stops. We have normalized so much abuse that when an officer actually follows the law, we feel like he is doing us a favor.

My experience has not been good. We were going to Akwa Ibom and followed the Bende LGA route. It was around 7pm. Could you believe the police mounted a road block, not to check vehicles but to order that every single vehicle must pay N2500 or they would not be allowed to pass? Omo, I came down to go talk to the person who looked like the guard commander, and he was ordering me to "do not come close to this place if you are not with your money or I will shoot." You go shoot me keh? I mean on the main road!! I cannot remember the road name, but Akwa Ibomites may testify. I refused to obey that order and kept walking to him, and this bloody civilian cocked his rifle. I still continued and walked up to him even as he pointed the gun...and I asked him (politely) why he was robbing people on the road, coupled with the fact that the route was very terrible. He demanded to know my identity, to which I countered that my background was entirely irrelevant as it did not alter the objective reality of the systemic corruption underway. To truncate the narrative, I was eventually granted passage; however, this individual concession did not mitigate the ongoing exploitation of other commuters. They seamlessly resumed their illicit operations, and a mere pair of vehicles trailing immediately behind me managed to bypass the toll unscathed.

While I hold no political office nor boast a patrician lineage, I am an individual who has rendered dutiful service to this nation and possess an inherent intolerance for state-sponsored intimidation. Na once person dey die. Although, my wife said it was a very dangerous thing to do... I could hear her soft pleas beseeching me to just come back then. Make God just bless me. Make me bless my wife.

Many of us tremble at checkpoints or police stations because of the uniform and the gun. But the truth is, the Nigerian Police Force is bound by the Police Act and the 1999 Constitution. They are not above the law.

Below are 50 things police officers do to Nigerians every single day that they actually have absolutely no legal right to do. Read them, memorize them, and know your rights.

The 50 Illegal Police Actions

1. Forcefully searching your mobile phone or laptop without a duly signed search warrant.
2. Forcing you to unlock your phone or demanding your passwords at a checkpoint.
3. Scrolling through your bank app, text messages, or WhatsApp chats.
4. Arresting you for "wandering" (wandering was abolished as a crime in Nigeria since 1989).
5. Arresting you in place of someone else they are looking for (Proxy arrest is strictly forbidden by the Police Act).
6. Detaining you for a purely civil matter, like a breached contract, owed debt, or unpaid rent.
7. Operating as debt collectors for landlords or angry business partners.
8. Demanding money for bail (Bail is absolutely free, both at the station and in court).
9. Forcing you to write a statement against your will.
10. Writing a statement on your behalf and forcing you to sign it.
11. Torturing, slapping, or beating you to extract a confession.
12. Parading you before journalists and the media as a criminal before you have been convicted by a court of law.
13. Denying you access to a lawyer when you are arrested.
14. Denying you the right to inform your family about your whereabouts after an arrest.
15. Detaining you for more than 24 hours (or 48 hours depending on court proximity) without charging you to court.
16. Jumping into your car and forcing themselves into your passenger seat without your consent.
17. Seizing your car keys forcefully at a checkpoint just to intimidate you.
18. Deflating your car tyres because you requested to know your offence.
19. Arresting you simply because you have dreadlocks, dyed hair, or tattoos.
20. Labeling you a "Yahoo boy" and arresting you purely because you are young and driving an expensive car.
21. Arresting you just because you are carrying a laptop bag on the street.
22. Escorting you to an ATM to withdraw money to "settle" them.
23. Forcing you to transfer money to a POS agent at a checkpoint.
24. Demanding your Customs papers on the highway (Vehicle customs clearance is the job of the Nigeria Customs Service, not the Police).
25. Rejecting photocopies of your vehicle particulars and arresting you for not carrying the originals.
26. Searching your house without a valid search warrant (unless they are chasing a fleeing suspect in hot pursuit).
27. A male police officer physically searching a female suspect (Only female officers are legally permitted to search women).
28. Forcing you to sit on the bare floor, in the mud, or inside a gutter at a checkpoint.
29. Shooting at your moving vehicle simply because you refused to stop at a checkpoint.
30. Pointing a loaded firearm directly at you during a normal conversation or argument to induce fear.
31. Confiscating your legally purchased goods or property without a court order.
32. Forcing you to pay for the pen and paper used to write your statement at the station.
33. Demanding "mobilization fee" or "fuel money" to investigate a crime you reported.
34. Demanding a percentage of your money or property after helping you recover it from fraudsters or thieves.
35. Stopping you on the road to demand your marriage certificate when you are walking or driving with your partner.
36. Harassing you for your fashion choices, like wearing ripped jeans or bum shorts.
37. Dispersing peaceful, unarmed protesters using teargas or live ammunition.
38. Refusing to identify themselves or show their official ID card when you politely ask.
39. Operating checkpoints in plain clothes without name tags or any official identification.
40. Using unnumbered commercial vehicles (like Korope or Danfo) to conduct official arrests.
41. Harassing you for moving around late at night (Every Nigerian has the constitutional right to freedom of movement).
42. Impounding your vehicle without officially logging the offence or issuing a ticket.
43. Refusing to grant bail for bailable offences just to punish you or extort your family.
44. Telling you "I will kill you and nothing will happen" (This is a direct threat to life and is a criminal offence under the law).
45. Searching the trunk of your car without any reasonable suspicion of a crime.
46. Arresting you for recording them in a public place (It is not a crime to record police officers performing their duties in public).
47. Forcing you to admit to a crime you didn't commit on video.
48. Refusing to allow you to read a statement before signing it.
49. Taking your fingerprints or mugshot for a minor traffic offence.
50. Stripping you to your underwear in public or at the station as a form of humiliation.

⚠️ A WORD OF CAUTION ⚠️
While it is crucial to know your rights, please apply wisdom. You are dealing with armed men in a country where the system is often broken. Do not argue blindly on a lonely highway at night just to prove a point. You will agree with me these men become more dangerous on lonely roads or at night.

Do you also know you can sue the institution

Stay calm, be polite, do not resist arrest physically, and try to involve a lawyer or your family as soon as you can. Your primary goal at any dangerous checkpoint is to stay alive. You cannot fight for your fundamental human rights from the grave.

Know the law, stay out of trouble, and don't let anyone intimidate you into parting with your hard-earned money out of fear.

What is the worst experience you have had with police officers doing something on this list?

Amovingman:
Keep playing they'll soon deregister ndc which Peter obi might not contest for next year election

Snipehype09:
Is there anyone here that has any idea of schools that offer IT related courses and their admission is quite easy.

I'm looking for admission and I'll be needing guild lines on it pls

Alyssaxo:
Yes, a telegram group I know of.

Jide888:
Please guys, I’m new here and I’m just about to start the process for the Ausbildung program in Germany. I need assistance on what steps I should take. If there are any groups for new aspiring applicants like me, please kindly guide me on the process. 🙏🏼

Mathewrichard99:
You can imagine people supporting evil and keep saying it's okay as long as they and their family are benefiting from it.......most Nigerians are wicked, very wicked souls.....will never stop saying it until I see changes......

ReturnMan:
Kenya? South Africa? 😂😂😂
Kenya what? South Africa what?
What apps have south africa built for their country, a country using foreign companies all through, fyi the African silicon Valley is Lagos.

Nigerians have built mega fin techbtech companies with no assistance from anywhere or endorsements from govt, Moniepoint, Chipper, Chowdeck.... Excluding those bought by Twitter Meta etc.... a Nigerian created calendly and is now a billionaire.

Talking about SA, i left Jozi less than a week ago, black South Africans don't do anything in that country but drink lean and walk about in hoodie and caps the full country is run by foreigners you can't even tolerate the processes in that country that has been set up by a wyt man, what tech startup is truly south african? And about Kenya i've never heard about any serious programmer or startup from there.

Ps you re even talking to a badaxx dev

ReturnMan:
After Indians. Nigerians have the best set of programmers.
Even our engineers are dope. Stop saying what you don't know

franchasng:
If America is not number one, that statistics is a scam.


You cannot tell me that you are smarter than Americans yet the world's innovations and groundbreaking technologies and scientific inventions always emerge from the same America. Even China in their smartness mostly copy American technologies discovered by Americans.


In my own personal experience about the world, the statistics should start from:


1.) USA
2.) UK
3.) Japan
4.) China
5.) others can follow

franchasng:
If America is not number one, that statistics is a scam.


You cannot tell me that you are smarter than Americans yet the world's innovations and groundbreaking technologies and scientific inventions always emerge from the same America. Even China in their smartness mostly copy American technologies discovered by Americans.


You are just ignorant.

The inventors and scientist in USA are foreigners (China, India, Russua, Ukraine, Korea etc). You think it is native Americans?

In my own personal experience about the world, the statistics should start from:


1.) USA
2.) UK
3.) Japan
4.) China
5.) others can follow

OgaSeun:
AD, AC, ACN does not exist anymore..

TONYE001:
Nigeria and its leaders (not just the government... I mean civil servants, heads of departments, etc) ARE DREAM KILLERS!

I know what I went through to do my clearance. Imagine a simple letter taking 5 years to sort out. Lazy, archaic, wicked, and evil people. If na HOD pikin, or big man pikin, story for don change. This is just sad!

I know this is just a side of the story. But as someone that has been frustrated before because of clearance, it's juszt crazy.

Why can't we love and respect each other...be at our best when dealing with others irrespective of one's position or influence?

I remember when I was an undergrad student. My Physics 102 result was MISSING. As in, how? Course wey I write pass well? Missing, how? I got to know this during my clearance.

Imagine clearance officer telling me to WAVE IT...that it won't affect my grade as I was already comfortably on a 2-1. Course I suffer write pass... no empathy...so that you'll quickly be done and go home.

I refused, of course. Went to the physics HOD,, an elderly man, a father figure...but in reality, an emotionless man. He easily discarded me, not even giving me listening ears. Went with one of my lecturers again, he threw us out...

And me no fit bribe anybody. Not possible.

It was God that gave his secretary wisdom, we maneuvred, she helped me retrieve the result from the department's archive, I made a copy and went on to submit at my department.

The big question is, why must university clearance be done physically? Why can't it be done online? Why can't I clear out online and go my way? Why must I move from one tabletl to the other...begging and being abused.. One so-called bursary officer would go to work very late and close before 3pm. If you sack him now, him go say na devil.

I once wrote that calling for national prayers will not change anything. It's better we do our best individually in whatever capacity we find ourselves... and pray for the country individually too. The national prayer people are calling for, no be all these wicked people go gather dey pray? Child of God on Sunday, wicked entity on Monday.

Funny bunch of people.

Hopefully your story checks out. If so, raise enough dust online. If you have any evidence... especially the letters you wrote over these years, put it out too. Wish you find justice.

We all must stop looking at Aso Rock as the only problem of our country. True, Aso Rock and its occupants are a major problem, but our individual wahalas dey contribute significantly to the state of the nation too.

So, for this country to get better, each and every one of us must seriously decide to do better. Go to work early, stop all corrupt practices, don't litter, stop exam malpractices, stop signing 7:30am when you go to work by 10am. If employed, be efficient. Function in the exact capacity you were employed. Stop playing God because you no reach. Be kind to everyone you cross path with. Just be HUMAN! This is not even about being religious. Just be human!

See how these things are very common? Not the big, big CRIMES you think have put us where we are. These little things, if achieved, will go a long way!

Chucks13:
Why all these Hakim, Hakim pls what did he do? How many goals did he scores? How many assit did he make? So because PSG beat one crippled team from Italy who are over-fed with pasta and couldn't carry their legs on the pitch mean Hakim now desirable to win it or what?

Pls it's too early morning to be reading all these uncalled for Hakim this and that. This same Morrocans stood against Osimeh, stood against Lukman and they have be doing these all the time but only my own country people will be shouting Hakim una no dey stand for una thing? Instead make I support Hakim I won't support anybody at all. I nor support Osimeh I go come dey support Hakim, say who die? I be naija and I will always stand by my country in as far they do better as well. Its Osimeh or nothing.

Thanks

praxs:
Here is a brief recap of what is actually happening.
Before anything else, let’s start from pre-border era.

It’s a known fact that people that resides in between borders of two countries, will definitely have its people separated in between the two border countries. E.g, Hausa people of sokoto, zamafa, katsina state borders have its people both in Nigeria and Niger. After British drew the border lines which we all call countries today, the Hausa people of Niger became Niger citizens while Hausa people of Nigeria became Nigeria citizens.

Tutsi are a tribe found in border town between Congo (kivu province) and Rwanda. To be clear, president paul Kagame is a Tutsi by tribe. For several years, the Tutsi in Congo(M23) have been crying of marginalization by the Congolese government. The Congolese government have asserted severally during the past years that Tutsi are Rwandese citizens and not Congolese. Because of these marginalization, the Tutsis in Congo had to pick up arms to defend themselves and their people from exploitation of resources in their local region in Congo by the Congolese government. This became the genesis of the war. Now that the Congolese government doesn’t recognize them as Congolese, the M23 needs money and resources to sustain it self and its militant. Their region being rich in minerals, they delve into mining of the resources for export so they can get money. Part2

CyrusVI:


That actually good. Considering the fact that Mental maturity is needed to excel in some top courses in the Uni

I know there are exceptional cases whereby a 17year old student can top his class in the Uni, but exceptions dont make the rules



If you do not understand the relationship between age-dependent higher cognitive reasoning and Academic excellence, then I wont be surprised to see u attack this good development

waleMac:
just came across this thread and I thank the creator for dishing out vital information, about travel to Study in France

As a researcher and an European enthusiast myself, I must say the information I read within first 5 pages are true

Im open to help answer more questions ONLY about France pls

Feel free to ask me any

BarrEgo:
Hello guys! I'm in Netherlands now, arrived 10days ago. Thanks so much for ALL the tips.
Here is my journey, experiences and tips/advice:
I will advise that you legalize your birth certificate and non-marriage certificate before coming to Accra; this I did at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for N1,000 a page. For appointments at the Embassy, you don't need one if you're there to collect your visa. You only need to be there before 8AM; they're really strict about that, I flew from Lagos to Accra with Medview (costs N18,000 and was a very short flight of 20+ minutes), got to the Embassy by 8:25AM and was ejected. The visa collection is a two-stage thingy. Stage one, you drop your international passport, passport photos taken at Osu and documents and they give you an appointment for a day to come pick them up. Usually takes two days, so it's best you go on a Monday or Tuesday, so that by Thursday you have your visa, that way you don't spend a lot of days waiting to collect your visa. Accra is really cheap so if you don't know anybody don't worry, you can pay for a hotel room for as low as N2,800; for this I recommend Frankie's Bar and Hotel at Nima, by Nima Police Station. Taxis are cheap as well, so don't worry about that, but try and haggle the price or you will be cheated frequently. Another advice: use the ATM's owned by Zenith, Ecobank or you will be charged exorbitantly for withdrawals. I can't seem to think of anything else but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Best!

pansophist:
If you do not have a family member who is an EU citizen/Dutch, or a job offer with full sponsorship from a Dutch company, then I can tell you for free that it is close to 100% impossible to move to the Netherlands.

Even if you come as a student, your residence permit is temporary in nature, and you are expected to return after your studies.

The Netherlands actually does not want people in their country, and the country has one of the toughest immigration policies in Europe, but will you blame them? The country is really small and is the most densely populated country in Europe.

For example, Yobe state is bigger than the Netherlands, and there are at least five other states in Nigeria that are bigger than Yobe. The Netherlands desperately needed space, so they had to reclaim lands from the sea, to create a new province (the province of Flevoland), so they could house more people.

It's normal to see people (especially Africans) who have lived in the Netherlands for at least a decade and are still illegal. If you go to Bilmer Arena in Amsterdam, a lot of them are there.

Sorry mate. It was intentionally designed that way. The Netherlands do not want immigrant in their country.