UK diasporan returns to London after Lagos police demand N100,000 for alleged indecent dressing

LONDON diasporan Yewande Abiodun has left Nigeria and returned to the UK in disgust after accusing operatives of the Anti-Robbery Squad attached to the Adekunle  Police Station in Lagos of demanding N100,000 ($277) from her for alleged indecent dressing.

Ms Abiodun, who travelled into Nigeria last Sunday, went out with a friend on Tuesday when the Uber car they were in was flagged down by the policemen at the Akowonjo area of Lagos State. At the checkpoint, the policemen asked the ladies to come down from the car and accused them of indecent dressing.

Then the policemen allegedly demanded N100,000 from Ms Abiodun and her friend but eventually they were let go after paying N10,000. Ms Abiodun, an up and coming artiste, said she had yet to recover from the shock.

She said: “Around 11.30pm on Tuesday, we were going home in an Uber when we were stopped by some policemen around Akowonjo. They flashed a torch into the car and asked us to come down and when they searched us and when they did not find anything incriminating, except the money in my bag, they started harassing us, saying that they would take us to a police station.”

Narrating her ordeal, she explained that she asked the policemen what their offence was and was told that they were indecently dressed. Ms Abiodun who noted that she wore a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, while her friend was equally well-clothed, said she was surprised at the allegation.

Ms Abiodun added: “I told them that we were not naked and moreover we were in a private car but he said when we get to the station, we will explain ourselves. When the policemen took us into their van, I could not breathe well because I am claustrophobic, so I asked if I could come down to breathe properly but they said I was fine since I was not sweating.

“I told them to allow me to call my male friends to come down to discuss with them. I don’t live in Nigeria, so I don’t know how it works here but they said that if my friends should come, they would take us to the Anti-Cultism Squad at Surulere."

She pointed out that the policemen later demanded a bribe of N100,000 from her and her friend. However, she  told them that the amount that was inside her bag was N10,000 but they insisted that they could not wait for her friends and threatened that they would take her to the station where she would be dealt with.

“They had driven us a little further when I told them to stop and this time round, they stopped and one of them said I should quickly give them what I had and they would let me go. I gave them the N10,000 but by this time my friends had arrived, one of the policemen said if they had known that I had such high calibre of friends, they would have charged me more,” she said.

Ms Abiodun said one of the policemen, who wanted to date her, gave her his telephone number. She explained that with the use of a phone application, True Caller, she got his name as Dele Ale.

She added that the experience left her traumatised, said she had decided to return to the UK today. Ms Abiodun called on the police authorities to give her justice.

Lagos State Police Command spokesperson Chike Oti said: "Anybody, who suffers wrong in the hands of any officer ought to report to police authorities for necessary actions. However, since you have brought it to my notice, we will investigate it.”