A man from Nigeria has described a terrifying encounter with the police, saying that he and his buddy were abducted at a suya location and mistreated because they supposedly “looked too fresh to not be a yahoo boy.”
He shared a long post about the incident on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
He claims that the experience started one evening at around eight o’clock when he and his friend went to a suya place near Powerline Junction, Ife.
They were allegedly harassed by Nigerian Police Force personnel while they were there, who took away their phones and examined them extensively but turned up nothing that could be used against them.
The officers allegedly responded, “You are too fresh to not be a yahoo boy,” when he asked them about their alleged offense.
When he asked why they were being led into a jungle rather than a police station, the man said, the scene became heated.
He responded that he was severely beaten by the officers, who broke two of his toes and a toenail, among other injuries.
He claimed that since he had the “audacity” to inquire, he was booted with jungle boots and struck with a loaded gun.
The two friends were eventually brought to a POS agent in Sabo at around one in the morning, where they were made to take out all of the money that was in their accounts—money that the officers reportedly stole.
He wrote, “You should thank your stars we’re in a good mood,” recalling the authorities’ threats of more damage. Otherwise, we could have shot you just because we could, drained your accounts, and put narcotics on you.
He revealed that he was traumatized by the event and arrived home at roughly three in the morning.
His friend still experiences PTSD anytime he passes a suya place at night, and he had to chop off his dreadlocks the next morning for fear of being profiled again.
“The Nigerian Police Force is a legitimate reason for any sensible individual to pack their bags and leave this country if they can,” he said, reflecting on the experience. Nigerian patriotism? What is Talmbout?