Checkpoints resurface on roads

Checkpoints are back on  some Lagos roads, especially at night, SAMUEL AWOYINFA writes

From Ikeja, to Ogba, Onipanu, Abule Egba, Ijora and Command-Ekoro Road in Ipaja area, police checkpoints are becoming a regular feature.

While some residents have no problem with this development others have complained.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had, on resumption in office, ordered that all roadblocks mounted by policemen across the nation be dismantled. However, police checkpoints are still seen at night and also in daytime in many areas.

In Ogba/Pen Cinema area, a checkpoint mounted by policemen can be found on Ogunnusi Road, almost adjacent to the Mobil filling station on Ogba-Ijaiye Road.

The  policemen manning this checkpoint are not less than four on each occasion. They have always been there every night since the beginning of last month. Some of them are armed.

At a checkpoint mounted at the Akilo end of Wempco Road, not less than four policemen are seen on duty.

Another checkpoint can be found directly in front of the Alausa Police Station, Ikeja. Occasionally at night,  motorists are flagged down and ordered to park for checking.

There is also another one around GTBank at Onipanu area, manned by a team. This team normally comes with their patrol van and the van is usually parked by the street corner.

A checkpoint is also found at night along the street by the railway line in Ikeja Local Government Area.  One also surfaces occasionally on Fagba-Iju Road, in Ifako-Ijaye Local Government Area.

Some residents support the presence of policemen on the roads at night. One of them, Mrs. Adejoke Bhadmus, says their presence, especially at night, keeps criminals at bay.

She says, “I don’t have anything against their being on the road at night stopping vehicles. Their presence alone can keep criminals away.”

Another resident, who gives his name as Kingsley, shares Bhadmus’ view, but adds that some of the policemen have turned the checkpoints to extortion points.

Recalling  his experience, Kingsley states, “There is nothing wrong having them on the road, but you would expect them to park somewhere and monitor things. However, they seem to stop vehicles indiscriminately, asking for this and that, even late at night.

“There was a day one stopped me along Wempco Road, Ogba, because one of my car’s headlamps went off after the car bumped into a pothole.  The policeman delayed me till I gave him N500.”

Another resident, Mr. Emma Kenneth, says policemen stopped him somewhere around Ikeja railway line at about 11.30pm sometime in Janauary. One of the policemen asked for his driver’s licence, which he produced alongside other documents relating to the vehicle.

The policeman would not accept photocopy of his driver’s licence but the original copy.

Kenneth adds that since it was late, he could not argue with the policemen.

He says, “They delayed me for almost 30 minutes because I presented the photocopy of my driver’s licence. But because it was late, I could not argue but to beg.”

Reacting to this, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Ms. Ngozi Braide, says what the police in the state are doing is stop-and-search and not the traditional roadblock.

She insists that no one can take that away from police duties.

She says, “What the police are doing in the state is ‘stop-and-search’ and not the traditional roadblock, which the Inspector-General of Police said should be dismantled. Stop-and-search is normal in policing, and no one can take that away from policing work.”

She adds that through this model of policing, fleeing suspects and criminals have been arrested, while stolen vehicles and other valuables have been recovered.

She says, “We recover not less than 10 stolen vehicles on a weekly basis. These vehicles are mostly stolen from other states and brought to Lagos.”

Braide, however, warns that no policeman should turn ‘stop-and-search’ points to extortion points, because both the giver and the one who demands bribe are guilty.

Copyright PUNCH.