A yet-to-be-identified Nigerian soldier has been accused of extorting N80,000 from Oludare Oyelola, a vehicle spare part seller, during a traffic congestion in the Oshodi area of Lagos.

The soldier accused Oyelola of hitting him with his car while trying to cross the road.

“He created a scene, claiming that I had hit him during traffic congestion,” Oyelola said. “He was actually the one who bumped into me that morning, but he was so arrogant. He asked me to roll inside the stagnant water beside the road.

“Knowing how brutal a Nigerian security officer could be, I begged him and also asked to take him to the hospital for treatment.”

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Oyelola maintained the soldier was not likely to have sustained an injury as he didn’t fall into a ditch. 

“It must have been a minor touch if there was any at all. In fact, there was no way. I was not at a high speed at the time because there was traffic congestion,” he noted.

“On our way to the hospital, he struck my face with his whip and asked me to head to the cantonment in Ikeja.”

The threat to lock Oyelola up in the barracks opened the door for extortion.

“I showed him my account balance of just N5,000 but he wouldn’t have it,” Oyelola continued. “After I had got funds from my friends and relatives on the phone, he forced me to a POS point under Oshodi bridge to withdraw N80,000. He sat in my car all the while.”

Oyelola said he could not pick the erring soldier’s name as he had no name tag on his uniform. However, he said he could identify him among several soldiers.

While speaking with FIJ, Olaniyi Osoba, spokesperson for the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, asked that Oyelola visit his office with evidence of extortion or approach the military police at the Ikeja Cantonment to present his case.