Nigerian Police Allegedly Extort US Professor Who Was Robbed By Immigration

A Nigerian-American art history professor, Moyo Okediji, has accused police officers of extorting him in an attempt to recover his stolen gadgets in Lagos.

LEADERSHIP, in an article in December titled, Homecoming Turns Nightmarish: Nigerian Officials Rob, Harass US-based Professor, had reported that Okediji had accused immigration officers of robbing him of $500 when he visited Nigeria last month to reconnect with his art centre at Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, following an extended absence.

Okediji who arrived in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos State, via a road trip from Ghana, said he had a smooth sailing experience in the West African countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin Republic until he arrived in Nigeria.

Upon arrival, he narrowly escaped being accosted by police officers who attempted to confiscate his possessions, including sculptures and personal effects, branding them as questionable items. He credited the intervention of a large group of young Igbo men who saved him.

Unfortunately, his turmoil didn’t end there. Okejidi, who teaches art history at the University of Texas at Austin in the United States, said armed bandits attacked him on Christmas day, stealing his gadgets and the $300 and 1,000 Ghana cedis in his possession.

To his shock, he stated that he recognized one of the armed bandits as one of the two escorts who brought his goods from Accra and was assigned to serve as his security from Lagos to Ile Ife.

The armed assailants proceeded to ransack and rob him after bragging about killing over a thousand people.

“The country has fallen much lower since and is now a danger zone,” Okediji said in a Premium Times report.

He added, “Men in uniform of all descriptions—immigration, customs, police, vehicle inspection officers, and others wearing uniforms difficult to define—have all taken over the country and made it difficult for citizens to enjoy, or even just subsist in their own country,” he told Premium times.

According to him, he was advised to report the incident at Ikoyi police station because they were savvy enough to track the bandits that attacked him.

However, he was asked to pay N750,000 for police to arrest only one of the suspects after he had already paid N100,000.

He stated that he refused to make the payment as he thought it was wiser to forgo the stolen gadgets and perceive the loss as a deficit amid the amplitude of the year.