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Nigeria: How Police, Military Extorted ₦21.8bn At South East Roadblocks In 2 Months – Intersociety

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has accused police and military personnel of extorting a staggering ₦21.8 billion from roadblocks across the South East geopolitical zone of the country in the months of Christmas and New Year.

Chairman of Intersociety, Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, said in a statement that the police allegedly pocketed ₦15 billion, while the military netted ₦6.8 billion between December 2024 and January 2025.

The issue of extortion at security checkpoints on the roads in the South-East region has continued unabated despite the cries of road users and other motorists and usually gets to a crescendo in the days and weeks when the people of South East residing in other parts of the country and Diaspora come home for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Most times, they treat road users without respect, harassing, intimidating, and humiliating them before extorting the money.

And despite the pronouncements of military and police high commands, nothing has been done to rein in their men or get them to treat people with dignity and stop disrespecting their uniforms and organisations, by their actions.

Umeagbalasi described the Uga Junction and Atani Road Naval checkpoints in Onitsha, Anambra State, as the “most lucrative,” allegedly yielding over ₦600 million from extortion at gunpoint.

According to Umeagbalasi: “The deployed personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police Force in the South-East seized no less than ₦21.8 billion from civilians during the Christmas and New Year periods, under gunpoint extortion and related practices.”

The findings revealed at least 300 direct military roadblocks and 500 patrol teams in the region, with 98% involved in extortion. Each military roadblock reportedly collected an average of ₦100,000 daily, translating to ₦80 million daily or ₦2.4 billion monthly.

The statement noted that Police personnel manning about 2,500 roadblocks in the region allegedly raked in an average of ₦10.5 billion over two months, alongside ₦3.5 billion from barracks extortions and an additional ₦1 billion from other forms of corruption.

State-by-State Breakdown of Police Extortion

Imo State: ₦2.94 billion

Anambra State: ₦2.52 billion

Abia State: ₦2.1 billion

Enugu State: ₦1.68 billion

Ebonyi State: ₦1.26 billion

Umeagbalasi highlighted that the acts contravened Section 108 of the Armed Forces Act, which prescribes a 14-year jail term for military personnel involved in extortion, and Section 99 of the Criminal Code Act, which criminalizes police roadblock extortion with penalties of up to seven years in prison.

He urged the government to take immediate steps to curb these corrupt practices, enforce existing laws, and hold perpetrators accountable.

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