have never been a fan of the Nigerian police because of several unsavory personal experiences with them. I have made this known several times on this forum, and one time a police officer Nairalander reached out to me privately to let me know that the despite the bad eggs in the Force, good ones still exist. Although I remain unconvinced (worse now more than ever), I still maintain a cordial relationship with this person.

This afternoon, my SO was stopped by the men in black at Underbridge on the road that leads to Guiness, Oba Akran road, Ikeja. They pulled him over and proceeded to do a 'thorough search' of the vehicle. Surprise surprise, what did they find at the corner of the door of the driver's side?

Yep, you guessed right. Colorado, aka Cannabis, aka advanced SK or whatever allied street adjective is given to this brand of illegal stimulant.

This is someone who has does not even fraternize with people who smoke this nonsense, neither has he smoked this in his life. He hardly even gives people lifts so where did this stick of Igbo come from?

You are right again. Our friendly Nigerian Police Officers dropped it there for the usual hydra headed purposes of extortion, intimidation, theft, thievery, harassment etcetera etcetera.

They handcuffed this innocent young man like a common criminal, and one of them nearly slapped him, but when the officer noticed his unruffled demeanour and almost maniacally calm laughter, they realised that perhaps, just,perhaps they were messing with the wrong candidate.

A took a call from higher quarters before he was released after hours of embarrassment and being shackled like a thief who stole the neighbourhood goat.

Now my question is what would have happened if he did not have contacts that he could reach out to? He would have been hauled off to jail and milked dry. There are so many innocent people in cells languishing because the people who have sworn to serve and protect them have betrayed them.

The Nigerian Police is NOT YOUR FRIEND. When they pull you over and want to search your vehicle, be VERY vigilant. If possible you latch their hands to yours so that all of you will search together in case they want to be unfortunate. Many of them plant illegal substances in people's vehicles and living quarters so that they can have an avenue to extort and harass them, and woe betides you if you don't have either connection or money to bail yourself.

THE NIGERIAN POLICE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND