“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” – J.K. Rowling
A Nigerian police officer allegedly told a UK returnee during a bribe demand: “if you were Igbo, I would have detained you.”
That one sentence says everything wrong with policing in Nigeria.
First, it’s extortion. The officer wasn’t enforcing law. He was pricing freedom. Pay me, or I use tribe against you.
Second, it’s ethnic profiling, spoken out loud. Not whispered. Not implied. Said directly to a citizen’s face. When police see tribe before crime, justice is already dead. Today it’s Igbo. Tomorrow it’s Benin, Next week it’s Urhobo. No one is safe in a system that polices identity instead of conduct.
Third, it’s shameful. This was said to someone returning home with hope, money, and skills. The welcome package: suspicion, slur, and a demand for bribe.
The Police Act and Constitution are clear: no discrimination. Yet roadblocks have become markets, and ethnicity has become leverage.
An investigation and dismissal is the minimum. But we need more. Body cameras. Random audits. Real punishment for supervisors.
Nigeria cannot grow when its police force tells citizens their surname determines their rights.
Policing should protect everyone. Not auction them by tribe.
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bcradle@ymail.com