A Nigerian man identified as Victor Ibeh has narrated his ordeal with men of the Nigerian Police after he took delivery of aphrodisiacs which he had placed an order for online.
Victor Ibeh who narrated that the men of the Nigerian police had followed him after he took delivery of the substance which he had wrapped in a parcel took to his social media page to write:
“Last week I went to take delivery of some aphrodisiac that I ordered online for a friend. It was wrapped in such a way that you would think some dollar bills were stashed inside. When I got the call from the delivery guy I decided to meet him at the Chinese restaurant in Apple junction. I took the package and went off with the bike guy that took me there.
For one brief moment it didn’t occur to me that I could have been followed. I was trying to get into a street when a tricycle halted before us and three policemen jumped out with guns and ordered us to stop.
They were so hostile that I thought there was something else. My first thought was that they came for the bike man, because I know most times bike men are restricted from plying major roads. Instead they walked up to me and the next I heard was ‘criminal’. I wore Jean trousers and a polo on leather slippers. Technically I looked like a guy man. It didn’t look anything near prof victor Ibeh.
They conducted an instant search on me brought out my wallet and was looking into it as if I could hide a bomb in it. I tried to protest and I saw they were really prepared for me. They gave me back my wallet and ordered me to get into the tricycle. I was still confused. When I took that parcel I kept it on my thigh while sitting on the bike. Maybe they thought it was bomb or something. They took me to the nearest police station in Okota and dragged me into one of their rooms.
From my experience and from the experiences of other people, I learnt never to fight with Nigerian police people. I know there are very good police men anyway but the number of corrupt officers is overwhelming. They can easily set you up with anything. Most of the people they parade on television as criminals are innocent people. They can go to the extent of killing you and tainting the memory of your name. They are very ruthless. The simple truth is that you are really not safe around a police man.
With the knowledge of all these I knew I wasn’t going to start claiming good citizen. It was in this country that justices of the Supreme Court were arrested in gestapo style. Anybody can be victimized and it’s going to be your word against theirs. They ordered me to open the package and I did. One of them took my phone and instructed me to unlock it. I did. He started going through my whatsapp chats and other things looking for something incriminating. I opened the parcel and I saw the surprise registered on their faces.they obviously thought it was money. They looked at the drug and didn’t see a Nafdac number so they booked me down for purchasing something that had no Nafdac number. It was useless to argue at that point that I ordered the drug online and that it wasn’t mine. I knew what they wanted and had no other option than to play along. The man going through my phone was not really interested in my chats. I noticed the way he was scrolling through the phone. Them he got to a chat I had with somebody who was asking me questions about Internet fraud/yahoo, whom I told I was going to get back to but didn’t.
He immediately said I was a yahoo guy and that was my second offense. I told him to read the chat again. All these while I maintained a smile and laughed at intervals. All I needed was to get out of there alive and without scandal. He read the chat again and found out that he was wrong. Then he told me that the drug I got was contraband. I said I didn’t know about that. He told me to either cooperate or I would have to write a statement and be detained. At that moment, they had my phone, I was totally out of reach. Important calls were coming into my phone but I was forbidden from taking them. Nobody except my friend knew where I went. This is a dangerous period to act smart with policemen. They could have replaced that drug with cocaine and some other things and nailed me with them. Nobody would ever know the truth.
I just respected myself and asked them what it would take for my sins to be forgiven. They billed me 20k so I began haggle price with them. They got impatient and wanted to start getting ideas in their head. I told them to calm down that we are not fighting. I pleaded with them to accept 5k. After much talk they accepted. I paid them the money and they gave me back the drug. One of them who was elderly came to me and requested that I give him some of the drugs that he is having erectile disfunction. I was like’ really? After collecting my money? Well I couldn’t give him because it wasn’t mine.
I walked out and took a bike home. Only a person who has been a victim of Nigerian policemen can tell that I actually escaped danger that day. I was just lucky. Not everybody gets so lucky. I know a school mate that was framed up by the police back in school. Guns, charms, drugs were all used to frame him up and he landed in awka prisons. He escaped death by the whisker. People die daily for offenses they didn’t commit. Something has to be done about this issue of security in the country. By God a Nigerian is not safe. Never!!!
