Commercial vehicle drivers have decried alleged extortion by security personnel on the Maiduguri-Nganzai-Monguno road in Borno State.
The drivers complained that the security agents acted more like tax collectors than officials assigned to protect lives and property on the road.
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The Maiduguri-Nganzai-Monguno road is one of the busiest roads in the northern part of Borno, once the hotbed of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Between the Baga Road Motor Park and the final stop in Monguno, there are about 18 security checkpoints—seven manned by soldiers, four by officials of the Civilian Joint Task Force, also known as vigilantes, two by police officers, and the last four by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Customs Service, and Road Safety.
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According to the drivers, the security officials usually collect a minimum of N50 from a driver before the vehicle is waved on.
“The Civilian Joint Task Force will collect a minimum of N100. Officials of Immigration, Customs, and NDLEA occasionally stop us, and when they do, they also collect something.
“The checkpoints where one must constantly give something are those manned by the police, FRSC, and soldiers. One must keep N50 for the police, N200 for Road Safety Corps, and a minimum of N100 for soldiers’ checkpoints,” Abubakar Modu said.
Mr Modu said he had used his Golf Volkswagen saloon car to commute passengers from Maiduguri to Monguno for over 10 years.
However, truck drivers said they are charged higher, especially when their vehicles are fully loaded.
“If you have goods, you will give no less than N3,000 at each checkpoint manned by soldiers, immigration service, customs service, and a particular checkpoint of vigilantes, also known as Yusuf gate,” Mohammed Bukar, a regular user of the Maiduguri-Nganzai-Monguno road, said.
“The security personnel are posing like tax collectors. They are not hiding anything. The money given to them will be on their palms. If a driver doesn’t have small Naira notes; they would immediately give change,” Mr Mohammed added.
Other drivers who spoke with our reporter said they had no hope that the government could take action against the extortion.
They said they were tired of complaining to the government because they sometimes end up being victimised for speaking out.
“We stopped talking a long time ago. When we talk, we end up being victimised by the government that is supposed to protect us,” an official of the NURTW at the Baga Road Motor Park said.
He refused to grant the reporter’s request for an interview or provide his name.
“I will not speak with you, my son. We would rather pray to God than talk to journalists,” he added while dismissing this reporter.
Eye service by soldiers
The drivers said they were not impressed by the conduct of soldiers.
“I believe anything can go into Maiduguri or out of Maiduguri. It is only God who is protecting us,” Mustafa Moduram, who claimed to have been a driver for about 20 years on the route, said.
Experts speak about the implications
Extortion by security personnel on major roads in Borno is not a new development. In 2020, Governor Babagana Zulum expressed this concern after witnessing the crime occurring along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road.
Even though the governor stopped officers at a particular military checkpoint from extorting road users, it did not deter officers at other checkpoints across the state.
ALSO READ: Drivers protest alleged extortion by soldiers on Nasarawa-Benue highway, travellers stranded
Some security experts who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES said it would be a big problem if the masses lost confidence in the government and its security agencies.
“Corruption is becoming a norm, not only among the security personnel but among all Nigerians. Security agencies, including the military, are supposed to review their management to include a special team that will monitor cases of bribery and corruption at checkpoints. I do not think signboards reading ‘Do not give or take bribes’ are enough,” Yunusa Bunu, a security reporter with YERWA EXPRESS NEWS, said.
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