Handcuffed along a Nigerian road
When I thought it would be a smooth journey back to Benin republic, the worst happened along Cherubim and Seraphim junction, Oke Itura Orisum Imole of Ogun State, Nigeria. I was handcuffed, kicked and ruff handled like a criminal. I was only confident and brave to stand and speak my mind to a policeman.
Osene, one of the policeman said: And you, where are you going? I was deep in sleep and thought. I said Cotonou. What business do you have there, I told him and he demanded an identity card; I presented same to him. In Nigeria, when a policeman knows he will find nothing on you, he will keep demanding for more. So I was ready for this one.
Who has this bag? I said it’s mine! Come down and open it so we see what’s inside. I quietly opened it and he still didn’t find anything. I was furious and asked him what he was up to. He said let me see your hand bag. I open it for him to see but as he started touching the little zip side inside the bag, I became aggressive and told him if they saw thieves, they would not harass them but will harass ordinary citizens with their mindless games and tactics. He then said: where is the receipt of your laptop, I used a foul language on him because I was already agitated at the manner he took on me. This was where he took it against me and called his colleagues to pounce on me. They came in their numbers and I was only able to get the name of Paul Idakwo. Paul ruff handled me, his second kicked me and they initiated to forcefully take my bags away but I resisted their attempts. While this was happening, other passengers were begging on my behalf and a certain woman who spoke Yoruba all through said: “He won’t be able to stay with a woman” and I said to myself if all women were like you, I would rather be single all my life than get married.
Other passengers and the driver asked me to be calm that everything would be fine and I became calm but the policemen were furious and a certain policeman with an over-ironed police wear came and took my bags away. He took it under the tree where they sat and before I could make another move, all four of them ganged against me, kicked me and dragged me to the floor after which I was handcuffed to the point my blood seized and it was painful too. Here is the evidence of the loosened handcuff:

They kicked and dragged me to the floor again but I resisted, although I was flat on the floor, I regained strength. The other passengers watched while a fellow citizen was kicked and they did nothing. Another woman confronted me insisting that I shouldn’t have challenged the policemen. I soliloquized again and said if all women were like you, I wouldn’t go near such a woman. I shrugged off her comments in pain. I was afraid so I dialled a friend’s number; in the process of dialling the number, they wanted to take my phone but I over powered them and made the call and my friend advised that I remain calm to avoid them shooting me.
In addition to the call, as I was about taking the picture of my handcuffed self, they took my phone but immediately after taking the picture I locked the phone so they would be unable to unlock it. The policeman with the over-ironed dress said: give him the phone we can’t unlock it. They were obviously angry because they couldn’t unlock my phone so as to aide deletion of the picture.
In thirty minutes, another policeman named Tee Leo came with a police van and asked where I am from and I told him. He also asked what happened and I gave him a true account of what had transpired. Before he spoke in a neutral tone, he said in laughter while referring to me: this young man would pay these police officers back if he eventually joined the police force but on the other hand, I soliloquized and said to myself that I am a Christian and will not pay evil for evil but to the best of my ability, I will do my job when the time comes. When his colleagues were absent in the conversation, he apologized to me along the road. He said and I quote: “we the Igbos are few in government and this is the reason the Igbos are been terrorized and harassed everywhere” He continued and narrated how during one of his operations a Yoruba man was begging on behalf of another Yoruba person who was in trouble but left out the Igbo person to his fate. I thanked him for his timely intervention and he asked that I take the nearest bus to my destination which I did.
To the Nigerian police, stop harassing ordinary citizens with your baseless questions rather channel intelligence to securing the country by partnering with citizens in the areas of information sharing.
Yes, I was tortured like a common criminal but it didn’t break me, it only made me stronger in the face of adversity.
