By: Manoah Kikekon
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| SP Abimbola Adebisi and Police mounting roadblock |
LAGOS, NIGERIA – Motorists plying the Lagos-Badagry expressway have raised alarm following an incident of daylight extortion at Pako Bus Stop, Amuwo Odofin. By Officers suspected to be from the Area E Police Command Festac Town, who mounted an illegal roadblock on Saturday, July 25, 2026, to target and extort drivers under the guise of enforcing the monthly environmental sanitation exercise.
The ordeal came to light following a detailed account by a road user, Mr. Olusola Ajose, who fell victim to the operation while traveling from Badagry to Yaba on the morning of the sanitation day.
Recounting his experience, Ajose stated that he was unaware of the sanitation exercise when he encountered a blockade manned by over ten armed policemen at around 7:10 a.m.
“I explained to the policemen that I didn't realize it was an environmental sanitation day. All pleas fell on deaf ears in spite of telling them I was on the way to the Airport,” Ajose narrated. Despite his explanations, his car keys were forcibly seized, and he noticed other detained vehicles being released after exchanging cash with the officers.
The situation grew worse when Ajose, whose medication was due at 8:00 a.m., was initially denied access to his locked vehicle. After pleading, an officer accompanied him to retrieve his medicine and phone. Even after interventions by a retired Commissioner of Police via phone calls, the officers allegedly demanded a ₦30,000 bribe to release his vehicle, threatening to tow it to the station.
“I eventually parted with ₦10,000. I felt pain for myself and our country. For me, it is not about the money, it was more of going against my personal principle of not paying a bribe... and pain for my country because I keep wondering when corruption will end,” he lamented.
Ajose further noted a glaring breach of protocol: none of the officers wore name tags, and they explicitly demanded cash, directing victims to nearby Point of Sale (POS) operators rather than accepting electronic transfers.
Adding weight to the motorists' grievances, the Lagos State Government has clarified that the roadblock and subsequent arrests were entirely unlawful.
On the same Saturday, the Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, took to his official handle on X (formerly Twitter) to address inquiries regarding movement restrictions.
Responding to a social media user who reported arrests over movement during the sanitation hours, Wahab categorically stated that there is no legal restriction on movement during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in the state.
The Commissioner maintained that any arrest or detention carried out on the basis of movement restriction during the exercise is illegal and does not represent the policy of the Lagos State Government.
The incident has sparked widespread condemnation, with residents and road users questioning the oversight of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the area, noting that an operation involving over ten officers could hardly occur without internal complicity.
Attempts by News Peddlers to reach the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer for comments on the allegations were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report. Commuters and local traders around Pako Bus Stop are now calling on the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to investigate the persistent extortion rings operating along the corridor.