A Nigeria lawyer Stan Alieke warns Nigerians not to pay police officers for bail otherwise, they will tell their colleagues that you are a cash cow and another squad will arrest you again.
“ This thing needs to be said that the way police are back to illegally arresting boys in Abuja, Rivers, Benin & Lagos is alarming. Their modus operandi now is they come as “Nepa” officials and demand the security guy to open the gate for them, once they have trickily entered the compound they will arrest the boys living there on a trumped up charge or allegation
These rogue officers go as far as forging a fake petition, maybe adding the suspects’ name to it, claiming that there’s a petition for robbery or kidnapping or fraud lodged against the suspect at the IG’s office but it is always fake or a forged petition because I have followed up most of it and it ends up that it is the police officers that forged that petition just to arrest the guys and extort money from them.
If a police officer wants to arrest you claiming that there is a petition against you, demand to see a copy of the petition. A proper petition will bear the date it was lodged, the date it was approved and the name of the complainant or the person who lodged the petition against you, if it doesn’t bear these details then it is fake or forged by the officers.
Also, the IG of the police has ordered police officers to stop arresting or inviting anybody on allegation of any crime unless there is a proper petition lodged against that person. So always insist on seeing a copy of a petition. And if there be a complaint or petition against you, you are to be invited & not arrested, you can only be arrested after you fail to honour the invitation or you are a dangerous or notorious armed criminal
And when arrested, no matter the threat don’t pay the officers a dime because once you pay them, another squad will come and arrest you and demand money from you again, that’s how they operate and for the umpteenth time, bail is free & you are entitled to it no matter the crime you are accused of as provided in S35 of the constitution. If you give police money to release you, you have committed the crime of bribing an officer of the law”
