The show of force
against civilians by uniformed men has been a fairly common occurrence in
Nigeria for many years.
Many would say such
incidents are not as common as before, but for 40-year-old Iloka Cyprian, a bar
and restaurant operator in FESTAC area of Lagos, his ordeal in the hands of a
Nigeria Customs Service officer attached to the FESTAC office, Joel Yahaya,
will remain fresh on his mind for a long time.
On the evening of
Sunday, June 23, 2013, Cyprian said he was battered by a team of six young
customs officers on the orders of Yahaya at his God’s Time Rest Bar.
“I thought I was going
to die,” he told this paper.
Cyprian’s narration
showed him as a victim of a ‘transferred aggression.’
He told our
correspondent, “That evening, it was about 9 pm when Yahaya came to my bar. He
had been there to drink before, so I knew him. He ordered a bottle of Harp,
which he settled down to drink afterwards.
“As he drank, he was
complaining to me that he had a quarrel with one Ezenwa, a resident of this
area. He said he was going to deal with the man. I told him to take the matter
easy. I had no idea he actually took the issue seriously.
“Even some men drinking
in my bar that evening also appealed to him to calm down. He shouted at them
not to interfere. He was furious.
“Yahaya said nobody
should beg him. He kept saying he would deal with the man. He suddenly picked
up his telephone and made a call to his office in our presence. He instructed
the person he spoke to on the telephone to bring a team to where he was on 202
Road.
“At that point, it
became clear that he was actually serious about the issue when he angrily stood
up and walked away. When he was out of earshot, I simply said, ‘What this man
wants to do is not right. This is illegal.’ I said that because I did not
understand why he would call for a team of Customs men to assault someone he
had a quarrel with just because he is a uniformed man.”
At this point, as
Cyprian spoke, he shook his head. He said he wished he never said such a thing.
He was apparently oblivious of the fact that one of Yahaya’s friends, who was
there, had heard him and later told the Custom’s officer what he had said.
What happened some
moments after was unexpected for Cyprian.
The battered man said,
“We were still sitting in front of my bar that evening when Yahaya came back
with a six-man team of customs men in a Hilux van. He said I had insulted him
and ordered the men to take me.
“I was shocked. All I
did was to plead with him but I never thought I had got him angry by saying
what he wanted to do was illegal.
“The young men who
followed him grabbed me. As a couple of them dragged me on the ground, some hit
me with their belts. I was kicked and slapped many times than, I could
remember.
“Nobody could come to
my rescue as they beat me because as soon as they jumped down from the van, all
my neighbours ran away in fear. Even the boy who helps me to serve at the bar
had run away. As I was being beaten, I was thinking of death.”
When he got an
opportunity, he bolted.
“I used a little
opportunity I got to escape from the men. I ran into my shop through the back
door. I quickly locked the back door. But the men pursued me and pounded on the
metal door. They said they would break down the door if I did not open it. I
was panting behind the door as my head and nose bled,” he said.
When our correspondent
visited Cyprian’s bar, the metal door on which he said the Customs men were
pounding had bent inward. There were marks of dried blood on the floor behind
the door where Cyprian said he hid after his escape.
“I have not opened
this shop since the incident,” he said, as he showed our correspondent his
dried blood on the ground.
“When the men left and
I opened the door, neighbours and residents quickly rushed me to the Isolo
General Hospital, where my head was stitched up in different places,” he added.
Half of Cyprian’s head
was heavily bandaged when he spoke with us.
He said until he regains
his strength and the stitches on his head removed, he would not be able to open
his bar.
Our correspondent
learnt that Cyprian’s case was reported at the FESTAC Police Division, but he
made no report to Customs authorities.
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