In late 2023, Nigeria’s international image further plunged when rogue police officers intercepted and openly demanded a bribe from a female Dutch biker.
A video that went viral showed how Noraly Schoenmaker, aka ‘Itchy Boots,’ was waylaid by Nigeria Police personnel on the Moniya-Iseyin Road, Oyo State, who unashamedly demanded money from her. There have been many
Only recently, a retired Nigerian police officer’s appeal to review his asylum refusal was denied by Madam Justice Ngo of a federal court in Ontario, Canada, on the ground that the Nigeria Police is notorious for extortion, bribery, and other vices that vitiate the ex-officer’s case.
Following two asylum rejections, the first by the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the other by the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD), Martins Peter Nwokolo sought the court’s assistance to review the unfavourable decisions of the immigration agencies, citing unreasonableness and breach of procedural fairness.
But Ms Ngo, in October 2024, dismissed Mr Nwokolo’s grievances as ill-conceived, stressing that the RPD and RAD were right to deny him asylum given that a section of the Canadian law forbids the issuance of refugee status to persons who have committed “serious non-political crimes” before coming to Canada.
The justice said that Mr Nwokolo, who retired as a traffic warden under the Nigerian Police, fell into this category of non-political criminals because the Nigerian security outfit was infamous for “extortion and bribery.”
“On April 11, 2022, the RPD found serious reasons to consider that the Applicant committed, under Article 1F(b) of the Convention, serious non-political crimes prior to entering Canada, namely extortion and bribery,” Ms Go said in her ruling on October 23, 2024.
Ms Go determined that officers of the force contribute significantly to Nigeria’s corruption.
“The RPD found that the police force as well as the traffic wardens are highly corrupt and that members of these forces are expected to contribute to this system of returns,” the justice stated.
Mr Nwokolo refuted the accusations, saying he neither collected bribes nor extorted citizens during his years in active service. However, Ms Go said the RPD had strong reasons to believe otherwise.
Even though the applicant alleges that he has never taken any bribes or extorted people as a traffic warden, the RPD found that there were serious reasons to consider that the applicant participated in those activities,” Ms Go said.
Mr Nwokolo, a pastor at the Chapel of Power Ministries since 2005, told the RPD that he was offered the position of chief priest in Nigeria. He rejected the position, a move that he claimed triggered his persecution in 2018.
He first relocated to another part of Nigeria and eventually japa to the U.S. in 2018. It was from America that he moved to Canada to file for asylum.
Due to the tarnished image of Nigeria’s police abroad, several asylum applications by former security operatives have fallen through.
In November, a police officer was detained for stealing N10 million from a resident in Bayelsa State.
Four policemen stole N1 million from three corps members in Lagos State in September, another N360,000 from a petty trader also in Lagos, N119,000 from a content creator while N140,000 was taken from a student in Niger State.
Ogwu Chijioke, an X user, also revealed on Saturday that Delta State police stole N750,000 from his brother in-law weeks ago via PoS terminal.
Meanwhile, on December 4, Muyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), announced that four officers had been suspended in connection with the stealing of N43.16 million.
From the stolen money a total of N74.95 million was recovered during an unauthorised arrest in Abuja in 2023. Instead of reporting the actual recovered amount, they reported only N31.79 million and concealed the remaining.
“Forensic intelligence showed that this group of officers conspired and stole part of the money, amounting to N43,160,000, and tasked one of them to move the cash out of the FCT for hiding pending when the heat blows over,” said Adejobi.
Gazette.ng
EDITOR’S NOTE: Photo used in this report is just for illustration and has nothing in connection with the report or meant to indict the Nigeria Police
