• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Nigerian police officers reign brutality, extortion on ‘suspicious’ tech community

Nigerian police officers reign brutality, extortion on ‘suspicious’ tech community

Players in the Nigerian tech community are being forced to look over their shoulders in fear as officers of the Nigerian police, especially in many parts of Lagos, are targeting young tech professionals, meting out brutality and extortion as they claim to be looking for internet fraudsters.

Tony Astro, a software engineer narrated how he nearly lost his life in the hands of officers of the Nigerian police force who claimed that for having a laptop in his bag, he was a “suspected” fraudster. 

According to Astro, two police officers intercepted him at Ketu and demanded to search his phone. After seconds of going through the contents of his mobile phone, they ordered him to the station.

“Next thing they pointed guns at my leg, telling me to enter another bike they stopped and go with them to their station. I entered and one of the men asked for a million naira and he’d let me go,” Astro recalled in a Twitter thread. “And I’m like 1 million?? Where would I get that from? I told him I’m not what you think. I’m a software developer at this company. He said everything na yahoo yahoo still. He physically harassed me on the bike still. To every onlooker on the street, I was a criminal of some sort.”

At the station, Ogudu Area Command, his belongings including a laptop, watch charger, phone chargers, and office jotters were seized. He was again ordered to open his laptop by one of the officers. 

“About 4 other policemen were there, making a total of 6. The next thing was slaps and punches, here and there. All I could hear was confess you’re an internet fraudster. I kept saying I’m not a fraudster, I’m a developer for a company,” he said.

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The policemen had Astro locked up with no proof or evidence that he was an internet fraudster. One of the men promised to let him go only if he parted with N500,000. When he would not cooperate, they went through his account balance on his phone. On seeing the money in it, they requested that he went to the ATM and clear “every dime”. Out of fear for his life – by now Astro said he had been beating severally – he agreed to do as he was told. 

“As soon as I got back, they took me back to the cell and counted the money. Then they said you can check all your things if they’re complete. All that was in my head was a remote job. I have to leave this country at the end,” he said.  

Astro’s experience is one of many reported by several software developers who have fallen prey to security operatives. Also, the unwarranted show of force – while it is an indication of widespread lack of intelligence about the tech community and a refusal to learn by men of the force – is an additional burden on members of the community who have lived through authorities’ knee-jerk economic policies that have put many businesses in jeopardy and forced a lot of creative developers to relocate from Nigeria.

“No one should be afraid to go out with their phones and their gadgets,” said Odun Eweniyi, co-founder and COO of PiggyVest. “For over a year now, we’ve asked the government to #EndSARS. We need to come together to stop the menace of harassment and extortion. Enough is enough.”

The Nigeria police complaints unit has said they are commencing investigations into the incident, however, many say previous investigations and arrests have done little to permanently address several other incidences that have been reported to it. Moreover, victims’ compensation has never been on the table.

“The same government handing out N3 million loans to young people to learn software development cannot protect them from rogue law enforcement agencies,” said Bosun Tijani, co-founder of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB). 

In time past, the force leadership claimed it has arrested officers involved in cases of brutality. Segun Awosanya, a police reform activist and a lawyer, said a coalition he leads had pushed the government to put in place a protocol that could potentially put a stop to the many incidences of brutality while priority is given to the Police Reform Bill and Police Trust Fund at the legislative level. Nevertheless, the current IGP thought otherwise and returned things to the status quo.

“On the one hand, we may need to put culpability to where it belongs by holding the IGP responsible for all the deaths since his repeal of a working protocol while on the other put pressure on the House of Representatives, for concurrence on the bills before assent by the President,” Awosanya said. 

Meanwhile, leaders of the tech community have vowed to fight back and have commenced a crowdfunding effort aimed at using legislative and judicial processes to address the problem.

“If we are to turn the frustration of today into actual action of tomorrow we will need material resources. People are already donating,” said Jason Njoku, founder of Iroko TV who also announced a donation of N10 million to the efforts. “It needs to be a community effort. Even if it is N1,000, it’s okay.”