Eric Patrick
A video that has since gone viral on TikTok captured a yet-to-be-identified Nigerian police officer extorting travellers along the Benin Bypass in Edo State.
The video, seen by a First News correspondent on Monday, showed the officer demanding the Electronic Central Motor Registry (e-CMR) certificate from transporters despite its suspension by the Inspector-General of Police in July 2024.
The TikTok user who posted the video captioned it: “Travelers who do not have ECMR which the IGP has suspended were asked to pay sum of 5,000 or buy 5 Litres of fuel by this police officer along Benin bypass way.”
The video clip, which gained widespread attention on Sunday, showed a troubling encounter between a police officer and a commercial driver, along with his passengers.
The officer asked, “Where is your ECMR?”
“ECMR is illegal,” the driver replied.
The officer then demanded: “If you don’t have it, you will pay money or you buy five litres of fuel.”
When the driver inquired, “How much is five litres of fuel?”
The officer responded, “That is N5,000.”
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“That means you want N5,000 from each person? What about the other person?” The driver asked.
“Let him bring N3,000,” the officer replied casually.
In the video, some passengers pay the demanded amounts, while others plead for leniency. One visibly distressed passenger said, “If I had the money, I would have paid the money right away.”
Recall that in July 2024, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, announced a suspension of the enforcement of the e-CMR after public outcry and legal threats from civil society organisations and the Nigerian Bar Association.