Drivers say police are using criminals to extort money from them.

There have been reports of police officers in the Berger and Oshodi neighbourhoods of Lagos State collaborating with local criminals to extort passing motorists.

Yesterday, our correspondent noticed that hoodlums were asking commercial drivers for N300 to be given to the police in Oshodi and Berger, as reported by The PUNCH.

Some commercial drivers told our correspondent that the police would make it impossible for them to convey passengers in the park if they did not pay their daily dues to the hoodlums.

A driver who gave his name only as “Tolulope” said that commercial truckers tip park cops based on the size of their cars.

He explained, “This is how they bother us every day. In spite of the fact that they are paid a salary and I am not, they continue to make my life difficult. Here, the cost of loading is N300. We regularly spend around N500 a day.

It is conditional upon the type of bus you are operating. Since I operate a smaller shuttle bus, my fare may vary from that of the larger vehicles. Because they don’t want others to see them collecting the money on uniforms, he said, “they keep sending all these boys to collect money from us.”

Rufai, another commercial driver, said police extorted them for N700 daily and threatened to make them stop working if they didn’t pay up.

The money is collected everyday by agents, as Rufai explained. Agents exist for the Army, the police, and LASTMA. “Aja dog” is what they name them. If we are loading in the morning from Obalende, then we pay N300 to the police, and if we load at night, then we pay N400, for a daily total of N700.

In addition to the rising cost of fuel, dealing with the various agencies encountered when travelling can be a huge hassle that contributed to our decision to increase spending on transportation.

If we don’t give them what they need, they will make our lives miserable. They won’t let us pick up passengers at a certain stop without repeatedly beating our buses with a rod. We can take passengers wherever we like, but only if we pay them a daily fee first.

Ibrahim Ahmed, a bus driver, remarked, “The problem is not a new phenomenon. They’ve continued the practise ever since. Money for cops, or “owo olopa” as it is commonly known. They would rather not have passers-by witness them stealing from us on the highway. The act is routine for them. It’s not right that they’re taking a bite out of our daily money, so the government should assist us get rid of them,” he said.

The phone of Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police’s public relations officer, rang unanswered many times yesterday, and his messages had not been returned as of the time this report was written.