Area F Police Command: A Threat to Lagos Social Life

Men of the Nigeria Police Force (posted by Samod Biobaku)

Reporter’s Diary

Area F Police Command: A threat to Lagos social life

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

It was a typical Friday night and a couple of friends and I decided to spend time at a hangout in Ikeja.

Just as we were parking the car at our first point of call, we spotted a police van directly in front of us and it maneuvered as if it equally wanted to get parked.

However, contrary to our expectations, two armed policemen disembarked from the van and ordered all occupants of the car out without the slightest courtesy.

It was already past 11:30pm yet the armed cops with bloodshot eyes insisted that we all stepped out of the car.

We had four guys and two beautiful young ladies in the car and the next thing we all heard was the boom of the cop’s voice: “If you get ID card, stand for this side (the cop’s right). If you no get ID card, stand for this side (his left side).”

Unfortunately, one of the ladies did not carry an ID as she had naively dropped her bag at home. Ironically, the cop’s eyes gleamed with excitement upon making this discovery.

If the lady in question was a call girl or a stranger, the temptation of leaving her to her fate would have been overwhelming but this was a family friend with whom we had left home together.

All appeal to the cops fell on deaf ears as they marched her into their van and threatened to drive off with her unless we ‘settle.’

A look at the young lady’s face revealed unadulterated terror and fear.

We quickly weighed our options. We could call their bluff, let them take her away and drive to the Area F Police Command where the most senior officer said they were taking her (as a check revealed that the police van was actually branded Area F Police Command) or we could part with a bribe to facilitate her release.

What if they drove off with her, took her to a deserted location and (God forbid) began to molest her sexually? I had personally listened to confession of commercial sex workers relive how policemen would arrest them, take them to a deserted location and forcefully have sex with them. What if the policemen fell into the error of taking her for one of such girls?

All of a sudden, the Area F Police van accelerated and we literally ran after it before it suddenly ground to a halt as the driver (the head of the team) threatened us saying: “Last chance!”

We asked him how much and he said, “…bring N10, 000…” We appealed for over three minutes before the policemen reluctantly collected N3, 000. By the time they released our dear sister, she was visibly traumatized and it was crystal clear that whatever plans we have to socialize in Lagos had been killed and buried by the ‘bribe-collecting’ policemen from Area F Police Command. You can imagine the rest of the night.