Institutionalization of Police Road Blocks and Extortion on Nigeria’s Highways

Abstract

Security is of critical importance in ensuring the wellbeing and development of any society. No society can achieve and sustain stable development without efficient security network and apparatuses. Preservation of lives and property is guaranteed when security agencies discharge their duties efficiently and with integrity. The opposite is mostly the case in Nigeria where the security personnel, especially those of the Nigerian Police Force, mount road blocks on the highways and routinely extort money from road users and engage in other unethical and unprofessional acts. The paper adopted descriptive research design and utilized mixed methods approach. Primary data were sourced through semi-structured interview involving one hundred and fifty (150) respondents purposively selected and interviewed; they were mostly bus, lorry, and truck drivers and other road stakeholders from the South West, South East and South South geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Secondary data, sourced through journals, newspapers and internet-based materials, were analyzed in terms of their thematic relevance to the topic; capture theory served as the paper’s theoretical framework. The paper concluded that the extortionist acts of Nigerian police officers on Nigerian roads contravenes the Nigerian Police Force Code of Conduct Act and recommends an upward review of salaries of Nigerian police officers even as punitive mechanisms are put in place to discourage and hinder the police and other security agents from molesting and exploiting lawful road users.