The Nigerian Police have come under fire after allegedly labeling a man a yahoo boy simply because they found a love letter he had written to his girlfriend on his phone. The officers reportedly used this as a pretext to detain him and ultimately extort a sum of ₦260,000 from him before letting him go.
This shocking incident was brought to public attention through a post made by the victim on his social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter. The man, who goes by the handle @TenmanNoble1, shared a detailed narration of his ordeal, expressing his frustration and anger over the way he was treated by the police officers.
In his post, he tagged the official handle of the Nigerian police force, @PoliceNG, and wrote: “@PoliceNG Your men are running an illegal operation on the road leading to MM1 airport terminal. At 5:30 am this morning, I was heading to the airport for my 7:30 am flight when I was stopped, detained, and had my phone forcibly seized by officers.”
He went on to explain how the officers searched through his phone, checking his messages and pictures but found nothing incriminating. However, upon inspecting his notes, they came across an old love letter he had written to his girlfriend years ago. To his shock, they immediately labeled him a yahoo boy (internet fraudster) and refused to return his phone.
Despite his protests, the officers insisted that the only way he could regain his freedom was by withdrawing ₦260,000 from a nearby POS machine and handing it over to them. Fearing further consequences and being at risk of missing his flight, he complied with their demand. He mentioned that he almost missed his flight due to the delay caused by the officers, but fortunately, the flight was delayed by an hour, allowing him to still board it.
The incident sparked outrage on social media as people took to the comment section to express their disbelief, frustration, and anger over the increasing cases of police harassment and extortion in Nigeria.
See some reactions below:
@enilowo: “If I were you, I would have missed that flight and demanded to be taken to the station. I will never hand over my phone to any policeman, no matter what.”
@Ashabul_Jannaah: “Oh my gosh? Where are we heading in this country, for God’s sake? So now, writing a love letter is evidence of fraud? Well, let me not jump to conclusions yet. I want to hear the other side of the story as well. But if this is true, then the system is beyond rotten.”
@ib_georgee: “The same thing happened to me. They tricked me into showing them my flight reservations, and that’s how they started going through my phone. But when they saw something that was too big for them to handle, they let me go. I was boiling with anger that day. So these harassments are still happening? @PoliceNG, this needs to stop.”
@Cleverlydey4u: “You people who were defending Nigeria Police a few weeks ago because it was Davido who called them out, God will punish all of you one by one.”
@LawdLil: “The only solution is to start driving cars with strong iron bumpers. If you see these corrupt officers, just hit them and keep moving. If possible, take them out.”
@TheRealCEOAmber: “These people don’t even listen to their superiors anymore. I thought phone searching was banned. What is really going on in this country?”
@oluwalanre2: “One thing I have learned over time is that as a young person making money in Nigeria, always build strong connections. Don’t always keep your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. Make sure you have people to call in situations like this to avoid being a victim.”
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