Policemen arrest bus passenger after driver takes off from checkpoint without paying bribe

ONE passenger onboard a commercial vehicle travelling in Osun State were recently handcuffed by policemen after the driver of the bus fled the scene of a checkpoint when he was asked to pay a bribe to the men on duty.

Apparently the policemen dehumanised the passenger at the Erinmo Ijesa end of the Iwaraja-Efon Alaaye Road in Osun State. It appeared that the policemen, who were in a Hilux van, mounted a checkpoint on the road and extorted money from commercial bus drivers but one who was stopped, refused to pay them any money and was ordered to park by the roadside.

After the driver parked, one of the passengers was said to have alighted from the bus to urinate in a bush. When this happened, the driver, on discovering that the attention of the policemen had shifted to another vehicle, quickly drove off, abandoning the man that went to urinate.

Local monarch, the Owa Tapa of Itapa Ijesha, Oba Olapade Agoro, whose university’s site was around the area, said the abandoned passenger was picked up by the policemen and handcuffed to the patrol van. He explained that the victim was handcuffed to the van for over two hours during which he soiled himself as his cry for mercy fell on deaf ears.

Oba Agoro said: “The sad and highly embarrassing incident happened on Sunday September 10.  The commercial bus the man was travelling in was stopped by the police for the usual palm greasing and the man came down from the vehicle to urinate.

“However, the deal between the driver and the policemen failed, prompting the police to ask the driver to park properly by the roadside while they attended to another vehicle. While they focussed on the other vehicle, the driver used the opportunity to speed off, leaving behind the passenger who went to urinate in the bush and when the passenger came back to discover that the bus had gone, he made enquiries about its whereabouts."

He added that immediately the police officers discovered that the bus that sped off, they pounced on the man and handcuffed one of his hands to the back of the police van. He was left handcuffed to the vehicle between the hours of 11am  and 1pm, during which he urinated on himself and wept profusely.

Oba Agoro said  he was angry at the maltreatment of the victim and he challenged the policemen. He added that the policemen subsequently released the passenger, who later came to his palace to appreciate the intervention.

“While still crying over his ordeal, he made me realise that he had no money as the policemen had forcefully taken the last money on him from his pocket. I had to, on compassionate grounds, give him N1,000 that enabled him to find his way back to his Aramoko Ekiti place of abode,” he added.

The traditional ruler said the inscription on the patrol van showed it belonged to policemen from the Osun Police Command, adding that fear prevented a resident from taking a clear snapshot of both the victim and the patrol number. He, however, said he would recognise the men if he saw them again.