A Twitter user, Ike Anya, has narrated how he was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), whisked to their station and detained for no reason.
The doctor and writer in a series of tweets on Saturday said the incident occurred on his way to the airport in Lagos en-route Abuja in 2017.
Anya further alleged that one of the operatives snatched and smashed his phone as he tried to contact his relatives.
His words, ‘“Oh I didn’t tell you about my encounter with SARS last year either?Last year was tough.I was in an uber on my way to the airport in Lagos to catch a flight to Abuja. Near the airport SARS stopped us. After searching the car & me, they said we had to go to the station”
‘“I asked why, they said I should shut up. I said I would miss my flight. They said it wasn’t their business. At the station, they put me behind the counter & asked me to write a statement. Statement about what, I asked” A woman officer reading a Christian pamphlet laughed…
‘“You are still speaking English, you won’t write statement?” she snapped. In the car I had tried to make a phone call & one of them snatched my phone and broke it. No one knew where I was. I was really scared..
‘I was there for five hours. They asked me to switch my laptop on. I didn’t have a charger & the battery had died. I tried to describe the charger so they could go & get one, they ignored me. Many more people were brought in & wrote statements. Finally a senior officer came in…
‘He looked at my work documents and said to the others, “Allow him to go now, these documents tally with his story”. Grudgingly they agreed. What about my broken phone I asked. You are still asking questions. I was tired & hungry, I left…
‘Outside the station, trying to work out what to do, I heard someone shout “Oga, oga dem don release you?” It was the uber driver. He had been waiting all that time. He said he didn’t know what else to do.
‘He had decided that if by night I hadn’t come out he would go back to the hotel where he had picked me up to tell them what had happened. I was so touched. I still send him money regularly now & see him when I’m in Lagos…
‘As we were driving out of the station, two things happened. One of my SARS captors tapped on the window. “I didn’t know you are from my side” he named his village, not far from mine, “find your brother something now” I stared at him in contempt…
‘Another SARS man, armed tried to block the way out of the station. By then my head was full. “Drive” I shouted to the uber Driver, “if he wants to shoot, let him shoot.” Perhaps he saw the madness in my eyes. He lowered the gun & the uber guy drove me to a friend’s place…
‘I’ve been reflecting on my lunch conversation with my friend all week, and the many ways that Nigeria can try to break you. And the resilience of so many. And the kindness of so many like the Uber driver. We must do better.’
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