Commercial motorcyclists in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday, embarked on a protest against alleged extortion by the Traffic Control unit of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
An eyewitness, Jamiu Suleiman, said that some policemen in the process of stopping a motorcyclist about 10 am at Challenge Area of Ilorin hit a motorcyclist with their patrol vehicle.
Suleiman said that the incident aroused the anger of commercial motorcyclists, adding that this led to a violent protest in which police traffic officers posts were damaged.
Some of the motorcyclists said that some policemen were fond of collecting N1,000 from them for no reason.
A motorcyclist , Mr Sodiq Ibrahim, said that most of the policemen who keep vigil in strategic areas within Ilorin metropolis were fond of extortion.
The Kwara Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the protest.
He, however, said the police had never received any complaint bordering on extortion from commercial motorcyclists before the protest.
Okasanmi said that the state Commissioner of Police had released three phone numbers to the public to report any misconduct by policemen.
“We received information on the protest today and we went there to calm down the situation.
“No arrest was made so far and there was no casualties and the officers are still there.
“Since the protest is peaceful, we didn’t arrest anybody”, he said.
