A resident shared his ordeal with the Nigerian Police force officers in Festac Town.
I was heading to Shoprite Festac to use the ATM and get some things.
My bike was stopped and they asked me to come down. Their police station was on the road.
They asked me to come to their stand. I came, there were about 4 of them. They asked what I did. I told them what I did, started giving them a lecture about the things I have done in the last couple of weeks.
I was quite confident. I have nothing to hide. I have been moving around with 4 means of identification; I had my voter’s card, international passport, work ID card and my digital skills tag.
A policeman asked me to open my phone. I did. He took my phone and started going through my emails. The others started asking questions. I talked to them about Digital Skills. Explain it’s importance. Told them about nHub. What we did.
The other policeman finished going through my emails and went straight to WhatsApp. He spent more than 30 minutes checking messages. The others kept interrogating… I kukuma have time. I was lecturing…
Then the guy with my phone asked me to get up and take my stuff and follow him in. We went in. He said he has caught me. Showed me a conversation with a friend whose blockchain was hacked. I was telling my friend to move on and forget about it. What bitcoin client he was using.
I explained cryptocurrency to this officer. Told him that the last time I check, trading bitcoin in Nigeria was legal.
He insisted he has caught me and started threatening me. He will deal with and all that.
I kept calm. I knew shouting wouldn’t solve this. I didn’t want anyone to put their hands on me so I was calm.
The other policed asked about my tattoo’s, what they meant. They said I was a cultist. I told them that was totally incorrect. I had nothing to hide, besides they have nothing to show I was a cultist.
Dude kept asking questions and threatening. I made it clear I knew my rights and would call my lawyer if things went out of hands.
Dude kept saying I am trying to threaten him with a lawyer, that he will deal with me.
After a while, he said I should settle myself and leave. I told him to explain what he meant by settle myself.
Dude kept repeating I should do what’s required. After about 30 extra minutes.
He said he is only leaving me because of my condition. I thanked him and then left. Even though I don’t believe in luck. Its safe to say I was lucky in this situation. A lot of Nigerians have gone through this and had very different experiences.
Please always move around with your work identity and after sharing the experience with my boss. He said it’s important for you to be confident and don’t let them smell fear