A Lagos resident has narrated his ordeal at the hands of police officers attached to the Alausa Police Division in Lagos.
The man, who asked not to be named, claimed that he was held up in traffic for more than three hours and as a result couldn’t make it home on time before the commencement of the 8pm curfew.
He was soon stopped by officers enforcing the curfew around Alausa on getting there.
All explanations fell on deaf ears as he and his cousin were arrested and taken to the police station.
He said, “At the police station, after impounding my vehicle, we were put in the mosquito-infested space and were left unattended to.”
Another driver, who also couldn’t meet up with the 8:00pm deadline, explained to SaharaReporters how policemen treated them.
He said, “They just moved in, in a gestapo manner, and ordered us to drive to their station.
“We were told to wait from that night till 7:00am for the DPO to come and address us. I left angrily around 7:20am when I was exhausted, only to return around 12:00pm to hear the conditions given before my car was to be released.
“Every one of us, over 20 in number, were asked to buy sanitizer, detergent, hypo bleach and Dettol.
“After purchasing those items, a police officer still asked us for “discharge money” but I queried her and let her understand that we had bought the items they demanded as fine.
“It was after some altercation that she allowed us to go.
“My little cousin is currently treating malaria as a result of the torture from mosquitoes.”
Spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Bala Elkana, could not reached for comments but a senior police officer at the state command told our correspondent that they were currently looking into claims of extortion by Lagos residents not able to beat the 8:00pm curfew deadline.
