MY ENCOUNTER AT A NIGERIAN POLICE STATION (PART 2)

From the way this old man greeted the police officers, it was obvious he was no stranger. It was also glaring that he was well-respected. I was to learn later that he is a member of the Police Community Relations Committee.

He stopped to banter with a few of the officers and he even peeped into the Human Rights office where I was seated. The officer was just concluding the case of the troubled couple and asked the old man if he could be of help. The man answered in the affirmative but asked him to finish the case he was currently handling.

The man chose to stay outside the office I was seated in and three young ladies soon joined him. The old man then beckoned on the policewoman whom I had been sent to, to join him. He gave a brief explanation of the case involving the three ladies but asked them to relay the stories themselves, one after the other.

A case of debt recovery

The three young ladies were traders. They were part of a group of traders that engaged in a thrift/ co-operative society whereby every trader contributed a particular amount and took turns in picking up the total contributions monthly. One of the girls picked up the total contributions when it was her turn but subsequently did not disburse to the rest when it was their turn to pick up the contributory funds. She had refused to pay for four months, amassing a N400,000 debt in the process.

When it was the turn of the accused to speak, she did not deny any of the accusations but instead begged her friends for forgiveness. She blamed her inability to pay on some personal challenges. She then offered to pay a substantial part of her debt while undertaking to offset the rest of the debt in a few days. Her recommendation was acceptable to the rest of the female traders.

Her first payment was confirmed by all parties and she signed an undertaking with the date that she would pay the rest. But the police was not going to let her go that easy. She was asked to part with a certain amount before her terms and conditions would be ratified by the police, even though it had already been assented to by her creditors.   

All her pleas that she was in chronic debt and that financial challenges led her to her current circumstance fell on deaf ears. She grudgingly acceded to the policewoman’s request.   

The creditors agreed to distribute the part payment of the debtor equally amongst themselves while the remainder would also be shared equally when she finally fulfils her pledge. The policewoman lauded the resolution, but there was one outstanding issue. The Nigerian police was entitled to a debt recovery fee of 20 per cent.

Everyone thought it was a joke until the policewoman reacted very angrily when one of the ladies mooted the idea of giving her N5,000 for her hassles during the case. She said it was statutory for the Nigerian Police Force to get a 20 per cent commission for its efforts at recovering debt. She threatened not to release the funds that had initially been paid by the debtor if the creditors do not accede to her demands. I do not know how much the creditors had to part with because they took the discussions outside to allow for another case involving a woman who came to report that her neighbour had accused her of having an extra marital affair with her husband. The story continues in my next blog post.