Owners of hotels located along Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, Lagos, have lamented the embarrassment bad eggs at Makinde Police Station, Mafoluku Oshodi Local Government Area, are causing to Nigeria with their extortion of guests, including foreigners who are coming into country.

According to the association’s Public Relations Officer, Seyi Adigun, the officers usually hang around the foot of the bridge linking Oshodi with Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, where they stop and search motorists going to airport road.

Adigun claimed that most of the time after checking their booths and car documents without seeing anything incriminating, the policemen would tell the motorists to bring out their cell phones for them to check.

He said that the policemen do this to both Nigerians and foreigners, adding that this is giving the country a very bad image in the comity of nations.

Adigun narrated an incident that took place on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, when two brothers whose mother died in London were on their way to the international airport when policemen flagged down the taxi conveying them to the airport. He said that after searching the car without seeing anything incriminating, the youths were asked to surrender their cell phones.

Adigun disclosed that on seeing the money in their account, the young men were taken to Makinde Police Station where they were forced to transfer the sum of N400.000.00 using a POS located opposite the station.

According to him, the owner of the POS, a woman, appeared to be an accomplice of the policemen as the money was transferred to an account that was presented by her, after which the youths were told to go.

Adigun also narrated to News Express another incident when the policemen forcefully collected $2,000.00 from a foreigner who was on his first visit to Nigeria.

His words: “I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Inspector General Police to come to our rescue. The men of the Makinde Police Station are causing a huge embarrassment to our country. Everyday our guests, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, are telling us gory tales of how the men of Makinde Police Station are cocking and pointing guns while extorting money from them at the foot of Oshodi – Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road link bridge. A lot of the foreigners are coming to Nigeria for the first time and these policemen are not giving them good impression of Nigeria. It is also this type of extortion that led to the #EndSARS Protest. So, the earlier action is taking on these policemen, the better.”

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