Newspaper vendors at Iyana-Iba Roundabout, Lagos State University Gate, Ojoo have accused the police of attacking them and burning their newspapers because they refused to pay N200 Christmas bribe.
According to them, the extortion had been going on for long, but on Friday, the situation came to a head after the vendors unanimously said enough was enough.
They refused to pay.
The angry, heavily armed policemen not only pounced on the vendors, but seized and burnt their papers.
They also refused to allow them sell those they salvaged.
They claimed to be acting based on “orders from above”.
Before the policemen attacked that Friday, they had already sent their “tax collectors” on Tuesday to threaten the vendors for refusing to “pay Christmas money”.
A vendor, who refused to give his name, alleging the policemen know most of them by name, said: “The mobile policemen clamped down on us for no reason.
“We have been at this roundabout before the mobile policemen were deployed to this area.
“They were supposed to prevent break down of law and order among the university student, but instead they started extorting money from us.
“After the newspaper was seized, I went to complain to one of the senior officers.
“He was the one who told us that they were acting based on order from above.”
According to him, among the newspapers burnt on the day were Sun, Tribune, National Mirror and Punch.
“The mobile policemen are in the habit of seizing our newspapers at this Iyana-Iba without reason,” said another vendor. “The Lagos State Commissioner of Police should redeploy them from this spot. We’re selling our newspapers here in order to make ends meet. This is the only business we are doing to feed our family.”
A third vendor said: “I was displaying my newspaper that very morning when the mobile policemen, numbering about 10, walked to my stand. Their number was intimidating. The senior officer among them ordered others to pick my newspapers. They destroyed my table. While they were destroying my table, I tried to confront them. But they were armed to teeth.
“These policemen have turned us to Automated Teller Machine. Every day, they send their errands boys to collect money from us. When they were taking the newspapers away, I asked the senior officer where he expected me and my colleagues to get money to give them after they had burnt our source of livelihood.”
Another vendor, whose table was damage, said: “Before we left on Wednesday, the mobile policemen had sent some of their errand boys to threaten us for refusing to contribute to the Christmas money other traders in the area given them.”
Police spokesman in Lagos State, Kenneth Nwosu, said he was not aware of such an incident.
Nwosu said: “We’ve warned our men to work according to the ethics and standard of the profession.
The complaint of papers burnt was not reported to the nearest police station by the vendors.”
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