The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has accused police and military personnel of extorting a staggering ₦21.8 billion from roadblocks in the South-East geopolitical zone within two months.
According to a statement from the Chairman of Intersociety, Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, police officers allegedly pocketed ₦15 billion, while the military took ₦6.8 billion between December 2024 and January 2025.
Umeagbalasi described the Uga Junction and Atani Road Naval checkpoints in Onitsha, Anambra State, as the “most lucrative,” reportedly yielding over ₦600 million from extortion at gunpoint.
“The deployed personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Nigeria Police Force in the South-East seized no less than ₦21.8 billion from civilians during the Christmas and New Year periods, under gunpoint extortion and related practices,” Umeagbalasi stated.
The findings revealed that at least 300 military roadblocks and 500 patrol teams were operating in the region, with 98% involved in extortion. Each military roadblock reportedly collected an average of ₦100,000 daily, totaling ₦80 million daily or ₦2.4 billion monthly.
Police personnel manning around 2,500 roadblocks in the region allegedly raked in an average of ₦10.5 billion over two months, alongside ₦3.5 billion from barracks extortions and an additional ₦1 billion from other forms of corruption.
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In terms of state breakdown, Imo State saw ₦2.94 billion extorted, Anambra State ₦2.52 billion, Abia State ₦2.1 billion, Enugu State ₦1.68 billion, and Ebonyi State ₦1.26 billion.
Umeagbalasi emphasized that these acts contravened Section 108 of the Armed Forces Act, which prescribes a 14-year jail term for military personnel involved in extortion, and Section 99 of the Criminal Code Act, which criminalizes police roadblock extortion with penalties of up to seven years in prison.
He urged the government to take immediate steps to curb these corrupt practices, enforce existing laws, and hold perpetrators accountable.
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