ON CHECKPOINTS IN NIGERIA'S SOUTHEAST

A few days ago I left for Umuahia to attend, on behalf of my family, the burial and funeral ceremony of an in-laws late mother. The details of the burial, including how she was interred within the grounds of the floor of what used to be her bedroom, will form the text of my ongoing treatise on Igbo burials. For now, I'll focus on what I observed making the journey by road, especially as regards checkpoints, which has become quite topical considering the volume of traffic to the east during this festive period. 

The matter of checkpoints in the Eastern part of Nigeria isn't one that is new to the Igbo of the region, and indeed it would seem as if we've become accustomed to it. However, the fact that it appears to have outlived its usefulness, in terms of curbing security breaches, which continue to take place in spite of the siege, coupled with the fact that they now serve as extortion spots, especially of commercial vehicles, and private ones, which the security agents on the beat consider to have run foul of traffic laws, or vehicle licence and registration codes, of which the amount to be extorted is at the discretion of the armed men, and the ability of the victim to negotiate, should be a source of concern to well meaning Nigerians.

I had listened to Senator Uche Ekwunife from Anambra State, on the floor of the National Assembly just days before my journey to Umuahia, complaining about 

the inconvenience and nuisance the security checkpoints in the southeastern part of Nigeria have come to represent in recent times, and I decided to pay attention to the situation during my journey, not because I wasn't aware of the menace, or hadn't noticed them on past journeys (in fact, I remember blogging about it, as part of another story), but I hadn't considered to particularly not each of the checkpoints, as I encountered them in the East, till now. So, from Onitsha I began taking notes, and found there to be twelve checkpoints between Onitsha and my destination in Umuahia. Below is listed, the checkpoints, the arm of the security agency/agencies manning them, and their locations 👇🏿


1. FRSC + CUSTOMS + POLICE, at Oba in Anambra State.
2. POLICE, just before Ekwusigo LGA, at Ozubulu in Anambra State.
3. POLICE FEDERAL HIGHWAY PATROL, about 100m from number 2.
4. POLICE FEDERAL HIGHWAY PATROL, Okija, also in Anambra State.
5. FRSC + SOLDIERS, few metres from Total Filling Station, a popular landmark in Ihiala, Anambra State.
6. RAPID RESPONSE SQUAD, Umunoha, Imo State.
7. NIGERIA POLICE FORCE, Avu/Obosima Way, Owerri, Imo State.
8. MOBILE POLICE FORCE, Emekuku, Owerri North, Imo State.
9. MILITARY CHECKPOINT, AzaraOwalla, Owerri, Imo State.
10. POLICE, one of them with his pistol in its holster, in Aboh Mbaise, Imo State.
11. MILITARY CHECKPOINT, Umuekwule Umuopara, Umuahia, Abia State.
12. MILITARY CHECKPOINT, on Ojike Street, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State.

Except for one of the checkpoints manned by men of the Nigerian Police Force, that our Sienna driver seemed to know the policeman that accosted him personally, the driver had to part with some money at all of the other eleven checkpoints. The men at these checkpoints seemed interested only in the money, from the drivers of commercial vehicles, and the big ones from private car drivers, with tinted glasses with or without the requisite permits, to haulage vehicles. Indeed, we came across a man who was making frantic calls to someone I guess was higher up to impress upon the men at the checkpoint to not make a fuss about his vehicle with tinted glasses.


I witnessed first hand, how much time is wasted at these checkpoints, precious time that could've been useful to run an errand within a reasonable timeframe, and wondered if those who thought of these considered the unusual scenarios that emergencies created in the first place. A fellow passenger lamented that though the civil war ended in 1970, eastern Nigeria is still under siege, and it is that, beyond any other consideration, is why there is this much security and military grandstanding in the Southeast, despite the fact that it is one of the most peaceful regions in Nigeria. Unfortunately, now that the men at the checkpoints have turned the roads to their ATM (like that of a returnee from Canada, whose story trended on Twitter a few days back, who was fleeced of six hundred thousand Naira, by men of the Nigerian Police on his way to the East), it appears unlikely that a change in the direction of reducing the checkpoints is imminent, rather the opposite is expected in view of the nature of the festive season, and the lie that heightened security and checkpoints will be needed to ensure the safety of lives and properties of travelers, to and from the East.


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- httpshttps://www.hrw.org/news