‘I Found Bullets in My Car’: Citizen Alleges Nigerian Police Incrimination Tactics

Dozens of Nigerians on X have narrated how they escaped officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) attempting to plant illegal substances and incriminating evidence on them during stop-and-search operations.

In a photo shared by Ricchy on Friday, an unidentified police officer was seen searching a vehicle.

With a caption written in Pidgin English, the user said, “You will search in futility but get no evidence.”

The police officer was seen bending over in different positions and peering into the corners of the car.

In response to his tweet, Benkingsley Nwashara said he was driving sometime along the Benin-Ore Express when a policeman stopped him and attempted to plant Indian hemp in his boot.

“A policeman parked me along Benin-Ore Express and shouted at me to open my boot. And he went straight to my boot before I could even turn off the engine. I came down first to meet him only to see the pack of Indian hemp squeezed in his hand. He wanted to throw it inside the boot immediately but I opened it. It was God who saved me. Don’t ever open your boot for anyone before coming down the car. Watch them closely when they’re searching your car,” he shared.

Pastor Okezie said that another tactic deployed by the officers is to beg for a ride and then secretly place a bullet under the seat.

He said, “Some beg for a ride, then they stylishly put expended bullet under your seat, then after a little while, they say they want to alight from your car. When you drive off, they’ll call their team members in the checkpoint ahead and tell them where they kept the bullet and describe your vehicle. When you get there they’ll search them to see the expended bullet, and that is how you’ll become an armed robber.”

Udeh Chukuma said, “You own good, mine was bullet; I picked up a police officer on my way from Lagos to Abeokuta, just in a bid to help him, when he dropped, for some strange reason, I felt he dropped something, so I decided to check around where he was sitting. Lo and behold, two strange bullets, I just threw them away and continued my journey. After a few km, I got to a checkpoint; they searched and searched; I was looking at them.”

Luuka said that he was first arrested by the Nigerian police at 17, after they produced a rap of Indian hemp he knew nothing about.

“This was how I was first locked up at 17, and my brother at 13. Funny enough, to this day, we don’t drink or smoke anything. They just came to a PS2 game house and brought out one big rap of Indian hemp from the pad carton. I was the oldest at 17 arrested. I hate them,” he said.