IF YOU DRESS WELL AND WALK THRU NEW BENIN MARKET IN BENIN, YOUR OWN DON FINISH, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT CARRYING ANY LAPTOP. B4 YOU KNOW IT NEW BENIN POLICE MEN WILL ROUND YOU UP IMMEDIATELY AND TELL YOU STRAIGHT THAT YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY.
YOUR PHONE WILL BE COLLECTED, AND IF ANY INTERNATIONAL NO. IS FOUND, WAHALA DON SET. EVEN IF ITS YOUR FATHER,S NUMBA, OR UR RELATIVE ABROAD THEY DONT CARE, THEY WILL SAY YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY AND YOU WILL BE DRAGGED STRAIGHT TO THE STATION.

IF YOU ARE SEEN WITH A FLASH, YOU DON DIE BE THAT,THEY WILL FORCE YOU TO WRITE STATEMENT THAT THE FLASH CONTAINS FRAUDULENT THINGS.

THIS IS NOT JUST JOKE, IT IS SO EMBARASSING AND PAINFUL.
MOST TIMES, THEY EVEN HANG-AROUND WESTERN UNION OFFICE, TO ARREST ANY YOUNG GUY COMING OUT AFTER CASHING $

I EVEN KNOW OF A GUY THEY CAUGHT AND LOOK AT HIS PALM AND THEY SAID FROM HIS PALM THEY KNOW HE IS A YAHOO BOY AND THEY BUNDLED HIM INTO THEIR BUS.

evil666:

IF YOU DRESS WELL AND WALK THRU NEW BENIN MARKET IN BENIN, YOUR OWN DON FINISH, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT CARRYING ANY LAPTOP. B4 YOU KNOW IT NEW BENIN POLICE MEN WILL ROUND YOU UP IMMEDIATELY AND TELL YOU STRAIGHT THAT YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY.
YOUR PHONE WILL BE COLLECTED, AND IF ANY INTERNATIONAL NO. IS FOUND, WAHALA DON SET. EVEN IF ITS YOUR FATHER,S NUMBA, OR your RELATIVE ABROAD THEY DONT CARE, THEY WILL SAY YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY AND YOU WILL BE DRAGGED STRAIGHT TO THE STATION.

IF YOU ARE SEEN WITH A FLASH, YOU DON DIE BE THAT,THEY WILL FORCE YOU TO WRITE STATEMENT THAT THE FLASH CONTAINS FRAUDULENT THINGS.

THIS IS NOT JUST JOKE, IT IS SO EMBARASSING AND PAINFUL.
MOST TIMES, THEY EVEN HANG-AROUND WESTERN UNION OFFICE, TO ARREST ANY YOUNG GUY COMING OUT AFTER CASHING $

I EVEN KNOW OF A GUY THEY CAUGHT AND LOOK AT HIS PALM AND THEY SAID FROM HIS PALM THEY KNOW HE IS A YAHOO BOY AND THEY BUNDLED HIM INTO THEIR BUS.

Surely you kid?
Are they that hungry? Or ignorant?

Aglah1976:

HOW CAN ONE RETURN HOME WITH ALL THESE NEWS?? SO I NEED TO CARRY A RECEIPT FOR MY LAPTOP EVEN IF I BROUGHT IT IN FROM GHANA?? NA WAH O, WHERE IS ITU BABA ITA,

Ghana or Gabon looooooooooooool

heryyy:

I am very glad that i came across this thread cos i am living in ikotun egbe,infact i was born and grown in ikotun,there is no single doubt in my mind who this people are and i will mention there names here if there is anyone who can stop them, they are as follows, MUKAILA, FREDDY, LUCKY, PAROL, MR KAZEEM, they take this as a real business,they patrol every area of ikotun/egbe looking for victim and they normal move around with a very small red nissan car but people notice the car from far and they run so they stop using the car and hire a danfo, pls let someone stop them they are bunch of thieves

i hv had issues wit dis fukas 2, sometimes de stay @ ilewe bustop, bunch of criminals

It happen everyday in Anambra state when ure about to enter Onitsha coming from Owerri route.They stop buses search everybody one by one.Once dey sight ur Laptop the fee is #3000.

Had a similar experience to the post: Last year my younger brother was carrying a laptop bag when two scruffy looking chaps accosted him and said he should open the bag up. me thinking that i was some festus keyamo asked them who they be and some i.d. they promptly showed me their battered police i.d's not to be out did i said they may search my bros' person but not his bag only unless they have a warrant. i further asked them if anything is missing in the vicinity or do they suspect him of a crime. of course they didnt answer. i then told my bro gimme the bag i'll hold it, as luck or ill-luck would have it a pick up carrying a squad of mopol showed up and said "my friend open the bag" which i sharply did to avoid being another statistic. when the the so called laptop bag was finally opened lo and behold it was my p.s 2 conveniently tucked away to avoid me looking unserious as i stabbed worked that day. when they realised their blunder the mopol said i should go. but being a red blooded youth i proceeded to say some things to the cops that im sure will annoy their parents, wahala i was now arrested for "insulting a police officer".
i sha got out of it as i saw a friends dad who helped me out. i'm sure if i add im a lawyer you will definitely say i no try, but guy!!! me no say i try

It's so sad this happens in Nigeria, I was arrested liket this too in April 2008 but unfortunately for me, I had no receipt in my bag and I was even already late for a job interview, I was delayed for about 2 hours in the hold-up in their bid to drive us to the police station. At the end of the day, I had to use 1000 naira to bail myself out at the station, was just lucky I didn't lose the job. The most annoying part of it is that there was no documentation whatsoever concerning the incident (just drove me to the station without listening to me - with AK47 staring me in the face) to forestall any future arrests cause I was wondering that I could still be arrested by another bunch of hungry-looking policemen on my way after leaving the station.

a colleague went through a similar ordeal in computer village and was only rescued after showing company id and pallying one
of the askaris.

evil666:

IF YOU DRESS WELL AND WALK THRU NEW BENIN MARKET IN BENIN, YOUR OWN DON FINISH, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT CARRYING ANY LAPTOP. B4 YOU KNOW IT NEW BENIN POLICE MEN WILL ROUND YOU UP IMMEDIATELY AND TELL YOU STRAIGHT THAT YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY.
YOUR PHONE WILL BE COLLECTED, AND IF ANY INTERNATIONAL NO. IS FOUND, WAHALA DON SET. EVEN IF ITS YOUR FATHER,S NUMBA, OR your RELATIVE ABROAD THEY DONT CARE, THEY WILL SAY YOU ARE A YAHOO BOY AND YOU WILL BE DRAGGED STRAIGHT TO THE STATION.

IF YOU ARE SEEN WITH A FLASH, YOU DON DIE BE THAT,THEY WILL FORCE YOU TO WRITE STATEMENT THAT THE FLASH CONTAINS FRAUDULENT THINGS.

THIS IS NOT JUST JOKE, IT IS SO EMBARASSING AND PAINFUL.
MOST TIMES, THEY EVEN HANG-AROUND WESTERN UNION OFFICE, TO ARREST ANY YOUNG GUY COMING OUT AFTER CASHING $

I EVEN KNOW OF A GUY THEY CAUGHT AND LOOK AT HIS PALM AND THEY SAID FROM HIS PALM THEY KNOW HE IS A YAHOO BOY AND THEY BUNDLED HIM INTO THEIR BUS.

That's true, that's what they now do around Dugbe, they will stop your car, this is different from normal road blocks, they are after yahoo boiz and will even stop your bike and if the okadaman refuse to stop, they will chase him.

The last time they collected Paul Smith shoe from my friend just because they saw international number on his phone

A friend of mine had a similar experience. He was harassed for carrying his official laptop home. The policeman was asking for the receipt of a laptop that was over 5years old. The guy had to part with some cash before he was released. His presentation of the company ID did not help in anyway. Since it was getting late, he felt it is better to "settle" rather than go with them to the police station, where he may be detained overnight.

The police force seriously need to be informed that carrying a laptop does not make one a criminal or fraudster, afterall, SCAM can be committed with smartphones! Or are they also planning to start arresting those that use smartphones?

I think they need to be well educated

With these tactics that some of our policemen/women are using to extort money from people, no wonder they continue to look hungry and wretched. Yes, they are not well taken care of by the Govt, but the solution is not to harrass innocent citizens who are probably going through some sort of hardship themselves.

Suffering and smilling

The reason why the cops are doing this stops is becos they are jealous. The cops are looking for ways to steal. They want to steal yur laptops men.

It happened to one of my in-laws. He was stopped in his car and because he refused to answer some ridiculous questions e.g how much salary does he earn to be able to buy a 06 model car, they kept harassing him. Eventually after he had finished arguing with them, one individual sighted his laptop in the back seat and confiscated asking for a receipt. Once he had explained that it was company issued, they then insisted on turning it on to see what was in it. Unfortunately to cut long story short in the process of trying to operate it they damaged it and he lost some crucial project files (he is an architect). He subsequently proceeded to beat the officers badly and was arrested. Well by the time his military friends came to get him out, I can assure that all the officers in that station had learned a serious lesson. Nowadays he doesn't stop for any policeman unless forced and once he has answered to 2-3 questions, he is starting his engine and driving off, even if he has to hit any policeman in the process.

ifele:

The reason why the cops are doing this stops is becos they are jealous. The cops are looking for ways to steal. They want to steal yur laptops men.

Steal the laptop and do what with it, some have no idea what laptop is for and what is all about.
They are hungry and just need money from you.

going through this thread.
My laptops are bought abroad,must I now fake a receipt committing a crime in the process just to avoid some criminally minded police men.
This is disheartening,

well that is nigeria for you

happened to me once.
my was once robbed of my laptop alongside was the receipt. so when i got another one and was stopped by 'd guyz' i simply asked them a rhetorical question "how do i claim back a laptop if stolen with the receipt". i end with don't expect me to carry both of the around. dont know how laptop is viewed but i was wonder why they don't carry receipt for their mobile phones around, why for a mobile computer? perhaps they see things as 'its only the rich that use laptop in nigeria' funny how things work around here . especially for those in the field, it could be terribly annoying in circumstances like this cos its to me as a stetoscope is for a doctor. how does a digger carry receipt for his work tools, or a licence for the farmer's sharp cutlass which iseven more dangerous. my point? my laptop is my woktool and ridiculous that one will ask me to carry around receipt and documents for my worktool. i dey bid for contract?

.s0on iPods wil b illegal. . .
.uTteR n0nsense. . .

SwtzMinx:

.s0on iPods wil b illegal. . .
.uTteR n0nsense. . .

I dont think so. . . . It is all cos of the 419 thing. . . . But they need to be better educated on how to arrest people and not just harass the citizens

Na wa oo!!! What the hell?!?!

How did they even see it? Guess you were carrying it in your hands, next time carry a back-pack!

But that's still stupid, illegal to carry a laptop, nonsense!!

the annoying thing is if the laptop gets stolen, they won't do shit to help you get it back, bunch o clowns.

In Nigeria anything that you have and someone in a position of power over you does not have, is illegal.

Its funny how the Nigerian police in their so called random ''stop & search'' operations asks you for receipts of frivolous items like dilapidated laptops & pressing iron but won't ask u for d receipt a $1000 Rolex watch on ur wrist.

If I was lawyer, I would take up these type of cases for free. This is a Mafia style shakedown, not law enforcement at all. It has been going on for far too long in Nigeria and it is very annoying. The custom officers at MMA are not different as well.

@pricekevo,

I like your yan, i carried my desktop one day which was faulty, , one man in plain cloth was trying to interrogate me, with

my anger, (i have a bad temperament ) said to him if his own lost, I said that he should be very careful the way he talk to people or else he will loose his uniform, he just leave me alone, first I am an elderly person, if anyone of them want wahala i will go all out and give it to them,

spiritually, physically, etc, you don't blame them too, they make their money from the yahoo boys, but they can read you from the tone of you

voice, they always let me have my way always, because i don't belong to the 419 group

I tried to laugh but ended up getting annoyed, after reading all these stories!
What peeves me beyond comprehension is the attitude of the "oppressed Nigerians"!
You can sense a sign of resignation "to fate", like there is nothing we can do, we just have to continue "suffering and smiling", no matter the kind of extortion, indignity or intimidation, these criminals in uniform put us through?

As a nation, a people, for how long shall we continue to put up with every inhuman treatment we are subjected to?
What is really wrong with the mentality of an average Nigerian? Why must it be that you need a military man to bail yu out for carrying a genuine Laptop (The same military men you say u dont want to rule you?)
Why is it that for the sake of self, we will overlook evil being meted to another fellow?

You might say all these is grammar and add some sarcastic comment that makes you feel cool but the issue is "As long as you put up with these "official scams", it will keep getting worse and your children would have to put up with worse ones.
I am an I.T. person by training and l would be lost without my Laptop, even for a few hours (same goes with my phones, and l take pride in packing two expensive smart phones since they are not only for basic telecoms, they are also my work tool).

I wish l can find a way to "provoke Nigerians to anger" so that we can start in our own little, persistent but lawful ways, to protest, amid respectfully, that we know our rights and we demand for it (even if you dont have the means to enforce it, let the stupid, thieving Policeman know that you know he is committing wrong, evil, for what he is doing).

Extortion is a criminal offense. whether by a civilian or a Police officer.

Dressing well does not make you a "good person" and dressing casually does not make you a criminal, infact, the criminal is more inclined to "dress powerfully", just to deflect suspicion.

I hope that I.G Onovo reads this nairaland, l hope he has the conscience to re-train the murderers he has armed with Ak-47, the right to kill!

I will not pay a dime to any Policeman that arrests me for possessing a Laptop. I cant even remember the receipts of a phone l bought recently, how much more a year-old Laptop! And in my house, we have four Laptops (every one has one, including my two grown boys).
I simply pass the old Laptop to my children when l buy a more modern one (bad Daddy! )

I will simply pay the "sacrifice" and politely wear put the patience of the police men.
There are better ways to track those doing Yahoo (what if they even encrypt the "Hard Drive" they use in committing Yahoo and it does not even appear at boot-up!) than harassing and extorting from law-abiding Nigerians.
Enough is Enough. Stand-up for your right to a decent life.

My ten quid.
BTW: where is our sense of charity? If you're a qualified lawyer, maybe out of work, why cant you advertise your skills to defend an oppressed stranger? Its more fulfilling than loafing around and who knows what may come unexpectedly from it?
We all can do some good in someones life, l bet.

lastpage:

I tried to laugh but ended up getting annoyed, after reading all these stories!
What peeves me beyond comprehension is the attitude of the "oppressed Nigerians"!
You can sense a sign of resignation "to fate", like there is nothing we can do, we just have to continue "suffering and smiling", no matter the kind of extortion, indignity or intimidation, these criminals in uniform put us through?

As a nation, a people, for how long shall we continue to put up with every inhuman treatment we are subjected to?
What is really wrong with the mentality of an average Nigerian? Why must it be that you need a military man to bail yu out for carrying a genuine Laptop (The same military men you say u dont want to rule you?)
Why is it that for the sake of self, we will overlook evil being meted to another fellow?

You might say all these is grammar and add some sarcastic comment that makes you feel cool but the issue is "As long as you put up with these "official scams", it will keep getting worse and your children would have to put up with worse ones.
I am an I.T. person by training and l would be lost without my Laptop, even for a few hours (same goes with my phones, and l take pride in packing two expensive smart phones since they are not only for basic telecoms, they are also my work tool).

I wish l can find a way to "provoke Nigerians to anger" so that we can start in our own little, persistent but lawful ways, to protest, amid respectfully, that we know our rights and we demand for it (even if you dont have the means to enforce it, let the silly, thieving Policeman know that you know he is committing wrong, evil, for what he is doing).

Extortion is a criminal offense. whether by a civilian or a Police officer.

Dressing well does not make you a "good person" and dressing casually does not make you a criminal, infact, the criminal is more inclined to "dress powerfully", just to deflect suspicion.

I hope that I.G Onovo reads this nairaland, l hope he has the conscience to re-train the murderers he has armed with Ak-47, the right to kill!

I will not pay a dime to any Policeman that arrests me for possessing a Laptop. I cant even remember the receipts of a phone l bought recently, how much more a year-old Laptop! And in my house, we have four Laptops (every one has one, including my two grown boys).
I simply pass the old Laptop to my children when l buy a more modern one (bad Daddy! )

I will simply pay the "sacrifice" and politely wear put the patience of the police men.
There are better ways to track those doing Yahoo (what if they even encrypt the "Hard Drive" they use in committing Yahoo and it does not even appear at boot-up!) than harassing and extorting from law-abiding Nigerians.
Enough is Enough. Stand-up for your right to a decent life.

My ten quid.
BTW: where is our sense of charity? If you're a qualified lawyer, maybe out of work, why cant you advertise your skills to defend an oppressed stranger? Its more fulfilling than loafing around and who knows what may come unexpectedly from it?
We all can do some good in someones life, l bet.

Well, all these are what I was thinking, but they are definitely easier said than done. People to have to work and go about their daily activities, pick up their children, brothers, sisters from school etc, instead of having to be diverted to a cell on their way to their business and made to spend a night there. hmmm

Guys, two things are evident here:
1. Some of these pple are computer illitrate. they can't even differentiate booting from their boot or troubleshooting from shooting

2. Economic situation have so affect majority to have poverty mentality. So seen a lappy, the first thing they imagine is can one afford afford it and the next is inquisition.
This also made those pple high ball to rol when they see lappy and determine not leave the carrier freely.
it is also believed by about 20% or more nigerian that all carrying lappy are "yahoo boys". you cn iagine someone saying that a 50+ yr old man engaging in FX


So, what are we saying