By Efe Onodjae
Men dressed in what appeared to be Lagos State Task Force uniforms, alongside others in plain clothes, yesterday forced a Vanguard reporter to transfer money to them after stopping and damaging his vehicle on the Mile 2 Bridge in Lagos.
The men jumped onto the reporter’s car, demanded money, damaged the vehicle and later forced their way into the car as the reporter remained trapped in traffic.
The incident occurred at about 7:30pm as the reporter, who had just left Vanguard’s head office and was driving home, approached the heavily congested Mile 2 Bridge in a silver 2011 Toyota Camry.
“I was heading towards Mile 2 when I got to the bridge and ran into heavy traffic. The road was congested with several trucks, and vehicles were moving slowly. As I approached the traffic, I noticed a group of young men moving around vehicles. Suddenly, about four of them jumped onto the front of my car. Bring money! Where is the money? Bring money!” they demanded.
Some of them were wearing what appeared to be Lagos State Task Force uniforms, while others were in plain clothes. I told them I had no money to give them. I reminded them that, on the first day I drove the car to the office, another group of men had stopped me and collected N10,000 from me. I explained that I had already paid people who claimed to be collecting money from motorists.
“Their response was blunt: that was none of their business.They demanded N20,000. I don’t have N20,000,” I told them.The situation suddenly became violent. They started hitting my car. One of them pulled off the driver’s side mirror. Another appeared ready to smash the windscreen.
Fearing that the situation could escalate, I transferred the last N19,000 in my account to them.They left. But barely a second later, another group appeared. That is their own. We need our own,” they said. I told them I had nothing left.
Again, they threatened to break the glass.
They ordered me to open the door. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, three of them entered the back seat while another entered the front.
I was now driving with four strange men inside my car.
They demanded more money. I told them I had nothing left in my account.
They threatened to smash the car and ordered me to keep driving.
I continued moving slowly with the traffic.
Then three of my friends began sending me money. About N5,000 came in, and I told the men that I had received the money and could transfer it to them.
They refused.
“Keep driving,” they ordered. One of them got down and said he wanted to meet some of the men ahead to settle them and inform them that I had paid. He returned shortly afterwards.
He told me he had “settled” the people ahead and that I should provide about N400,000.
I told them I did not have such money.
At that point, I became increasingly convinced that allowing these men to take me further down the road could put my life and property at even greater risk. I feared that they could take my phone, everything I had and possibly even my car.
Then I heard the sound of a convoy.
There were military personnel around the road, apparently clearing the way for the convoy. One was positioned ahead and another behind.
I made a desperate decision.
I drove my car into the middle of the convoy.
A military officer immediately became angry.
He shouted at me, demanding to know why I was blocking the road. He cocked his rifle and threatened to shoot me.
I got out of the car and tried to explain.
“Sir, I am a journalist. There are people in my car attacking me.”
The officer appeared not to understand the situation. He continued ordering me to move and threatened to shoot.
I kept telling him that there were men inside my vehicle.
That was when the men in the car suddenly opened the doors and jumped out.
I did not wait.
As soon as the traffic began moving, I followed the convoy and drove away.
It was only afterwards that I fully appreciated what had happened.
My car had been damaged. The driver’s side mirror had been ripped off, and the body of the vehicle bore signs of the ordeal.
But beyond the damage to the car was the psychological impact.
For those minutes on the Mile 2 bridge, I was not thinking like a journalist. I was simply a motorist trying to stay alive.
The men did not appear to be carrying firearms, but they were armed with objects that could be used to inflict harm. At least one of them was carrying a bottle. Their threats, the violence against my vehicle and their determination to collect money left me genuinely afraid that the situation could become fatal.
What happened to me on Tuesday evening was not an isolated inconvenience of traffic.
It was an experience that exposed the vulnerability of motorists caught in traffic on the Mile 2 axis.
I had left the office at about 7:31pm. By around 7:40pm, I was already caught up in the ordeal on the bridge.
I had experienced something similar in the past and had paid between N6,000 and N10,000 to get away. But what happened on Tuesday was different.
This time, the men were more aggressive. They entered my vehicle. They damaged it. They demanded money repeatedly and threatened violence when I could not meet their demands.
