A Bolt driver in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, has accused officers of the Nigeria Police Force of unlawfully detaining him for giving a ride to suspected internet fraudsters, commonly referred to as ‘Yahoo boys.’
The driver, identified as Aremu Oluwasegun, recounted that his ordeal began on Wednesday evening when two young men booked a ride with him to the Emenike area of Port Harcourt.
Upon reaching their destination, Aremu said local vigilantes who had been trailing the passengers intercepted his car and arrested the young men. The vigilantes also confiscated his phone and reported the case to the Octopus Police Station under the Rivers State Command.
According to Aremu, immediately he entered the station, police officers descended on him and started beating him.
The driver stated that he was eventually detained from Wednesday, January 8 to Friday, January 10, 2025, adding that he met other young Nigerians who had been detained inside the cell for up to six months by the police without being allowed to contact their relatives.
Narrating his ordeal, he said: “I picked a ride on Wednesday evening around 8 pm to drop people at Emenike. I did the ride online, and immediately I reached Emenike, I dropped them. I ended the ride for the person to pay me. As they were about to pay me the money, I just saw a Corolla car parked by my side and people just came down from the Corolla. They were vigilantes with guns and they started shooting.
They just pointed the guns at me. They collected my phone and car key. Some boys started ‘blowing’ (punching) the two guys (my passengers) that I took there. The vigilantes were trying to force them to enter the car but those guys refused to enter the car. The guys later got inside the car and they drove them to Octopus Police Unit.
“Those people (policemen) are wicked. They are devils. I asked the vigilantes to give me my phone, saying that I am a Bolt driver. They told me they have given my phone to the police. I asked the police and they said I should come to the station to take it. Immediately I reached the entrance of their office, they started beating me. If you see my back. They said I am a thief and that I drive robbers to carry out operations. But even after telling them that I am a Bolt driver, they continued to beat me. They removed my clothes and left only my boxers on me. Then they put me in a cell. They put me with the ‘Yahoo boys’ (internet fraudsters).
“They collected my phone so I had no chance to call my family or relatives. I met people who had been in the cell for one month, some for six months, some for two months, and some three months. They had no way to reach their parents. The police are just picking people up from random places and locking them up in the cells.
“I was detained from Wednesday till Friday. The police even demanded the sum of N150,000 before I would be released but my family paid N100,000. My car is still in their custody.”
When contacted, the Rivers State Police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko, said the command is aware of the incident.
