In the last 50 months, Nigerians living in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of the country have been made to part with an estimated N306 billion at the more than 6900 military and police roadblocks scattered across the two regions.
This is contained in a recent Special Research Report presented by a civil society organization, Intersociety, following a field survey and research that covered the eleven states of Edo, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo for a period spanning 50 months – August 2015 to October 2019.
Lead researcher in the report is Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, the Board Chairman of Intersociety, a trained criminologist and graduate of Security Studies; with other research assistants led by Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku.
The report is co-signed by Chidimma Udegbunam, Head of Campaign & Publicity, Chinwe Umeche, Head of Democracy & Good Governance, Obianuju Igboeli, Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law and Ndidiamaka Bernard, Head of Int’l Justice & Human Rights.
“According to the report, citizens of the regions literally paid out the staggering sum at gunpoint to military and police personnel at the estimated 600 military and 6300 police roadblocks across the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.”
While the 6,300 police roadblocks illicitly collected N250b from the said regions, the 600 military roadblocks bagged N56b.
The report further showed that an average of N6.4b was illicitly collected monthly and N76b yearly in the past four years and two months.
The N250b illicitly collected by the Police, the report said, constitutes over 80% of the annual budget of the Nigeria Police Force, which is N300b while the annual take of N76b amounted to over 20% of the said annual budget.
The report noted that no fewer than 34,000 armed personnel of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force and Nigeria Police Force stationed on the roads and other public arenas in the two regions were involved in the said rip-off, thus suggesting that the incessant military build-up and police siege in the two regions were mere shakedowns after all.
On the motive behind the report, the document read in part: “The report is also in response to the proposed military operations in Eastern Nigeria, code named: “Operation Python Dance IV” and “Operation Crocodile Smile IV”, scheduled for 1st November to Christmas Eve of December 2019 as well as the planned flooding of the two regions particularly the Southeast with alleged greater number of ‘Federal Road Tollgates’. This is even as it is found that 70% of all Federal Roads in Eastern Nigeria are a death trap.”
The report condemns the militarization and police siege in South-East and South-South and the deliberate lopsidedness in the location, composition, manning and management of key military and policing formations in the two regions.
It also frowns at the “brutal economic exploitation of the two regions and their peace-loving and industrious people through series of unjustifiable and unwarranted war-like military and ‘internal security operations’ and their attendant official roadway robberies and other corrupt practices.”
It decried the needless militant and provocative operations ‘Python Dance IV’ and ‘Crocodile Smile IV’ in the two regions.
The report noted however, that roadblock extortion in Nigeria was first introduced by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Customs Service.
It continued: “Today, it has spread like wild fire and particularly caught the operational attention of the Nigerian Military including the Army, Navy and Air Force and Paramilitaries like Federal Road Safety Corps, Immigration, and Nigerian Security & Civil Defense Corps.
“Use of ‘roadblock’ in the security of a country or for purposes of safety of lives and properties is very archaic and outdated. As a matter of fact, it is an attribute of a failed state or system. Roadblock is also synonymous to war ravaged countries or enclaves run by drug cartels or illegal mineral mining barons. Intersociety remains opposed to the use of ‘military and police roadblocks’ in Nigeria or any part thereof. This is more so when it is now ‘the more the roadblocks, the more the crimes against persons, properties and the state’.”
Included in the special report are the estimated sums of money illegally collected at roadblocks by military and police personnel from passenger-loaded tricycles, motorcycles, shuttles and L-300 buses.
It also includes the increased ‘tariff’ collected at mobile roadblocks mounted by plainclothes police personnel from victims of ‘wetin-you-carry’; victims of ‘incomplete vehicular particulars’ or ‘expired driver’s license’ or ‘stolen vehicles’; victims of ‘carriers of contrabands’ or ‘exhibits’ including unregistered and substandard drugs. There is also the staggering ‘tolls’ paid at police roadblocks, by marketers of hard drugs such as Indian Hemp, Cocaine, Codeine and Tramadol as well as substandard drugs.
Others are monies collected at Military roadblocks from each tipper or 911 lorry or Datsun truck or L-300 bus or tricycle loaded with wares (i.e. at Atani Road Junction Navy roadblock).
Also the higher categories of monies collected at Military roadblock from each trailer or container body loaded with wares and also, the ‘fees’ collected at Military roadblocks from each oil and gas tanker-trailer (i.e. along Owerri-Egbema-Elele-Port Harcourt Road and other roads linking oil and gas producing communities in South-South and South-East).
The report also noted the daily payment compulsorily imposed and collected from every tricycle, motorcycle, L-300 and shuttle bus driver called ‘Ego Ndi Navy’ or ‘Ego Ndi Army’ (Navy or Army Money).
It read: “This is a routine at Atani Road Junction Navy roadblock, Onitsha Bridgehead Army checkpoint and other major military checkpoints in the two regions. “Ego Ndi Navy” of N100 per day is also collected at Onitsha Upper Iweka and Onitsha-Owerri Expressway where they maintain roadblocks. Such illicit sum is collected by civilian agents jointly raised by the Army/Navy and the leaders of the affected commercial transport unions with agreed commissions for leaders of the commercial unions.”
The report also observed that there are ‘sales spot Navy/Army approval fees’, collected once from each of the new roadside petty traders including mobile advertisers and ‘professional beggars’. This is the case at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead area including Atani Road and Uga Junctions courtesy of Nigerian Navy, which also collects a fee per day from every roadside petty trader and from anybody that crosses himself or herself or wares over the two major lanes of the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway.”
The rest are daily ‘loading permit fee’ for every Tricycle/shuttle Bus/L-300 Bus driver for loading at ‘rush hours’. This is also the case at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead area particularly at Atani Road Junction Navy roadblock, the fee per ‘turn’ collected indirectly in the day time and directly from 7pm by soldiers from every tricycle or motorbike or shuttle bus or L-300 bus driver plying intercity roads or streets in commercial cities located in Southeast and South-south particularly Aba in Abia State.
Also included is, “The ‘essential commodity daily returns’ (running into tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of naira, as case may be, for each of the military roadblocks per day). This is perpetrated by each of the Military Checkpoints located close to arenas where such commodities are mined or excavated or extracted. These include oil and gas, gravels, stones, red and river sands and other solid minerals or industries producing ‘special products’. A typical example is the river sand excavators along Atani-Ogwuikpere Road in Ogbaru and Niger Street in Onitsha where agreed returns are paid on daily or weekly basis to the Ogbaru Naval personnel and possibly the Army. Disagreement over same led to public protests by the payers in 2018.”
The report observed that the South-East and South-South are now the ‘headquarters of military and police corruption’ in Nigeria, accounting for 60%, if not more, of non-bureaucratically generated corruption proceeds.
It read: “Of the two regions, too, South-East is the largest generator of commerce related corruption proceeds for the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force, while South-south emerges as the largest generator of oil and gas land conveyance corruption proceeds. Till date, the two regions are the most peaceful and not in a state of war, yet ulterior motives including false security alarms have been capitalized to lay military and police siege on the two most peaceful regions in Nigeria.”
The report stressed that the focus of the research is the Military and Police roadblock extortions and did not include six other forms of service blue-collar corruption, generally described as ‘custody’ and ‘special services’ related corruption.
“The third largest Military and Police corruption proceeds come from corruption associated with rendering of ‘special services’ to oil and gas firms, banks, multinational companies and VIPs, which are never reflected in the annual police or military budgets’, the report read.
The report added also that from open-source and reliable service-information
According to the report, in Aba alone, there are no fewer than 28 military roadblocks in Aba metropolis.
“They were counted when we visited on Saturday, 12th Oct 2019. The field trip was between the “peak” evening hours of 4pm and 5.30pm. The spots where they were mounted included Osisioma Port Harcourt Highway; Ariaria Market Junction; Osisioma Depot/Ekeakpara Market; Osisioma-Aba-Owerri Road; Umuojimma Village; Urata Junction; Seven Decks/Faulks Road; MCC Road; Abia Poly/Brass Road; Okpu-Umuobo Road by Ama Double; Ahiankwo Village Market; Umuogele Road; Aba Mosque by School Road; Ngwa Road by Ahia-Ohuru; Alaoji Market; Aba-Port Harcourt Road; Obikabia Junction; Bata Junction; Ohanku-Owerri Road; Aba Park; Azummini-Opobo Road; Glass Force; Seven-Up/Glass Industry; Opobo Junction; Umu-Eze Road by Primary School; Umu-Imo; Ohanze and Onicha Ngwa”, the report said.
