EDITORIAL
The Hilarious State Of Corruption in the Police Force…
On one of my journeys back from my country side, I was opportune to watch a long hilarious seasonal movie which I paid keen attention to. This was a time when the road was infested with checkpoints every kilometre you travel. At every point you reach, you’ll have to pay before you pass through. I discovered that the money our driver paid them started from N20 and started increasing with every checkpoint we got to. Before we got to Ibadan we were already paying N100. The most hilarious of all was when we got to a point and our driver claimed he doesn’t have smaller notes but one thousand naira notes on him. I was perplexed when the officer on duty said; “c’mon oga, I get change”… he went to the back of the bus which was where I was sited. I saw him bring out some pathetic looking notes extorted from previous victims and counted out a change of N900. I couldn’t help but feel disgusted by this act.
‘This act is illegal’ as posited by law but legal as practiced by the executioners of the law. There was a time that this act is referred to as bribery but now I call it extortion. It is now more of a compulsory fee you must pay at checkpoints as a driver. The original purpose for the checkpoint was to check the spread of crime but now it harbours crime.
I was travelling home a few months after that incident and I saw the road clear of all checkpoints. I was already wondering if all police men all went out on a picnic only to discover when I got home that they have all been directed by the federal government to stay clear of the roads. The few that were left stayed clear of the act and I was like; “this is a great development”.
I woke up from that dream just this weekend on my way to and from Ekiti. It was the same story all over again.
This act of extortion is not only restricted to the police force but also in the education system…To be continued next week.
