Confusion as IGP Squad Arrests Police and Immigration Officers 

There was chaos and confusion along the Seme-Badagry Expressway as police officers believed to be from the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Special Squad, arrested some police officers and Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, operatives during a raid on illegal checkpoints on the Seme-Badagry Expressway.

The checkpoints were mounted and used as spots for extortion by some officers of the Nigerian Police Force and officers of the NIS, which prompted the IGP Squad to take an interest in getting hold of the officers connected to the corrupt and faulty act.

The illegal checkpoints’ actions have caused a variety of disturbances in the movement of goods and people, and are claimed to have hampered trade facilitation, in addition to the negative image the country presents to the regional and continental communities.

Complaints and reports made and outlined by people in the area against the officers who were arrested with respect to the illegal checkpoints came with anger as they mentioned some of the atrocities carried out by the officers.

Responding to the news, maritime stakeholders praised the IGP for starting the cleansing of the axis and asked him to continue the effort until the axis was fully free of unlawful checkpoints.

They also urged the CGC and IGP to extend the clean-up to members of the maritime police, whom they claim have become a stumbling block to legitimate enterprises and trade facilitation.

According to our source, the raid will continue until bad apples within the individual agencies responsible for the blight are fully eradicated through sanctions and punishments.

A Customs broker based in Seme said: “The maritime police command has since appropriated part of customs job by blocking manifests. They order shipping companies not to release manifests and such tendencies have become entrenched.

“They even impound containers on the road and take them to their premises around Obalande. We want the IGP to help us beam its searchlight here too. There is so much extortion going on at the maritime command. They should be fighting maritime crimes and should be stopped from taking over customs job.”