Day 1
On Wednesday 19th October 2016, at the FCDA junction traffic light along Ahmadu Bello way Abuja,I was arrested by VIO officials for beating the traffic light when I was actually moving along with a mass of cars moving with the green light. I calculated that it must have been about amber when I passed. At the intersection, a green Toyota Sienna crossed into my front and he paused as he could not move further and I had to stop abruptly to prevent an accident. The driver in the green Sienna was what prevented me from moving and the cars passing at the lights from my direction caused him to pause there in front of me. A few seconds later the cars coming in the direction of the green Sienna started moving, as they were passed by the light and the Sienna that caused me to stop moved away,but I waited for the traffic to pass on as they had right of way. The situation changed when a V.I.O official came to my window and requested that I open the door and he accused me of beating the traffic light.
I began to explain the circumstances to him but the explanation fell on deaf ears. I was told to park and I did so trying to reason with the officials.
I was told that they were a joint task force team and that they were operating under a ministerial directive from the minister of the F.C. T and they proceeded to collect my particulars. I tried to explain that I stopped to avoid an accident but all my appeals fell on deaf ears.
I had an uber rider in the vehicle at that time and she waited patiently until they wanted to move my vehicle to their office. She was rather annoyed at the delay and I apologized to her, Uber runs on time and distance based fares so she was reasonably annoyed that the cost of the delay would be borne by her when there was no germane traffic violation. She asked the VIO official why they were arresting people on the road, when they were not statutorily empowered to do so, and the official answered that it was the minister's directive.
At the VIO office, my tires was deflated, my car key was confiscated and I was told that to release the vehicle I would have to go for hospital tests, where I would get a certificate of mental fitness before I would be able to pay the fine alloted.

Day 2
I was directed to go to Karu General Hospital by the VIO official at the joint task force office in Mabushi. I arrived the hospital at about 11a.m. I was first greeted by the fact that a total sum of ten thousand naira would be the cost of obtaining the certificate of mental fitness.
I withdrew money from the Atm and when I walked into the hospital, the man who was supposed to receive the money and issue receipts was not in the office. I waited for him and he came around, I paid and began the process.
I was lucky to obtain the certificate on that day. First a folder was opened in my name and then I had my vital signs measured. I was to go to the laboratory when I was hit by the Nigerian factor, the test kit was out of stock and we were supposed to be assessed with this as an aid.
The medical director was not in the office and the lab technicians were handicapped by this. I was assessed by a psychologist and a general practitioner. It was as this psychologist wanted to issue the certificate that the Nigerian factor was revisited. The psychologist advised us to hurry because the admin guys would close soon and this was before 3pm.

True to her word, when we got there because it was 2 of us in the same predicament, we found the admin block as quiet as a ghost town. It was as we were leaving the hospital that we found the admin guy at the gate chatting with his colleagues.
We got the hospital stamp on the certificate after reasoning with the admin guy to return to his office to stamp our certificates. Our pleas were within the usual working hours of 8-4pm, yet we had to beg this civil servant to do his job before 4pm.

Day 3
Now armed with the certificate of mental fitness, my car was not released until 2pm.
First I had to contend with a funny woman who was issuing me a document for payment and then she told me the order from above was that we must buy road signs booklet before we could get our cars released, I let out all my frustration and as I was shouting a man in the joint task force office said we should forget about buying the road signs booklet.
After paying into the bank within the VIO premises at Mabushi, we were delayed by the receipt issuing office which was locked, the officials were attending a seminar. After we waited and scaled that hurdle, it took sometime before we could retrieve our keys and particulars.
At that point several irregularities had occured. Certain persons without the hospital certificate had payed a different fine. If you had the hospital certificate then you would pay a fine of 10,550 naira, if you did not have the certificate then the payment was about 15,550 naira. It is disheartening to say the least of a process that is easily shunted by the individuals who were saddled with the responsibility of upholding the law. When we at the parking lot, we were also told to pay 1000 naira to the security for guarding our cars before we could collect the vehicles.

My questions at this point from my experience are:
1. If the F.C.T minister desperately wanted to generate revenue, is harassing the residents the best option to do so?
2. If we test traffic offenders and they are free of psycho-active drugs, can we say the same for the VIO officials, are they tested regularly to ascertain their mental status before unleashing them on the public?
3. When and where does the colour amber mean stop?
4. Why are civil servants entitled to a job with their lackadaisical attitude when there are more unemployed people seeking a chance to work and earn their living?
5. Why is information of an official process shrouded in mystery in a government parastatal, why must you go back and forth before you can achieve a simple task?

Without prejudice, I must state that the Nigerian project belongs to us all, if I choose to remain silent, this injustice and insolence will continue. Government must be answerable to the governed.