Christmas journeys across Nigeria have turned into a nightmare as hoodlums masquerading as local government officials unleash widespread extortion on major highways, preying on desperate travelers heading home for the festive season while security forces look the other way.
NOHR investigation shows that along the Lagos-Onitsha Expressway, criminal gangs have effectively taken control of key stretches of road, mounting illegal roadblocks and demanding fictitious “radio licenses” or slapping drivers with outrageous on-the-spot fines ranging from ₦20,000 to ₦45,000. The extortion is most pronounced around Ore in Ondo State, Benin City in Edo State, Asaba in Delta State, and the Onitsha Head Bridge in Anambra State. What makes the crisis particularly chilling is that it unfolds brazenly under the noses of police and military personnel stationed at nearby checkpoints.
A Lagos-based nurse traveling with her family to Imo State described to NOHR her harrowing ordeal at what was labeled a “customs checkpoint” in Asaba. About seven roughly dressed young men blocked their Sienna bus and demanded a radio license from the driver.
“They yanked open his door, dragged him out and shouted that if he failed to produce a radio licence, they would impound our vehicle,” she recounted. “We had children with us and the sun was scorching. Despite our pleas, they deflated our tyres and forced our vehicle off the road.” Several other vehicles were similarly pushed off the busy highway by the hoodlums, who could not produce any form of identification. When victims approached police officers at the nearest checkpoint to complain, they received a stunning response. “To our shock, they brushed us aside, saying, ‘We are doing our work and they are doing their work,'” the nurse said. “Our pleas, especially those of us with children, fell on deaf ears. Eventually, we were forced to part with money to continue our journey.”
Chinonso, a 16-year-old secondary school student, was returning from his school in Ebonyi State to Abuja on December 18 when his 16-seater commercial vehicle was stopped at Obollo Afor, a boundary town between Enugu and Kogi State. Six able-bodied men in black shirts and jeans ordered every passenger, all secondary school students, out for a bag and body search.
As they scrolled through Chinonso’s iPhone, they spotted what they called a “strange” app. The accusation came swiftly: he must be a “yahoo boy”—internet fraudster. They insisted he pay ₦50,000 before he could be allowed to go with other passengers, or else be taken to the EFCC office. After frantic pleading from the driver and other drivers from the transport company who had parked their vehicles nearby, one driver offered to pay ₦20,000, which the men accepted. The driver then insisted on seizing Chinonso’s phone to ensure his parents would refund the money when they reached Abuja.
A Criminal Enterprise With Customer Service
Check by NOHR shows that the extortion network operates with business-like sophistication. After paying between ₦20,000 and ₦45,000, victims are given phone numbers to call if stopped again further down the road, which they inevitably are. “Some paid ₦45,000, others ₦35,000 or ₦20,000, depending on their bargaining power,” the nurse explained to NOHR “After payment, they gave us a phone number to call if we were stopped again. We were, in fact, stopped a few kilometres ahead by another group. When we called the number, nobody picked. We had no option but to pay again.”
Mazi Ukadike, a Lagos-based businessman, shared similar contact numbers he was given: 09137214004 (John) and 08138755192 (Ifeanyi). His experience highlighted the violent enforcement tactics employed by the criminals. “They aggressively demanded a radio licence. When we told them we didn’t understand what they meant, they pushed my driver out, took over the steering and drove the car onto a rough road off the highway to negotiate money,” he said. “They demanded ₦45,000. We pleaded and eventually paid ₦35,000.”
Motorists who challenge the extortionists face swift consequences: deflated tires, vehicles damaged with sticks and cudgels, and passengers stranded for hours under the scorching sun on rough roads off the highway.
“Above the Law”
Security experts say the practice is not new but has intensified during the Christmas travel period. Osaze Onos, a Benin City-based security analyst, told NOHR that the criminals operate with apparent impunity.
“They have been doing this for a long time, but the police and other security agencies have failed to checkmate their excesses. It is a creation of corrupt local government chairmen who use it to settle their thugs,” Osaze explained. “There was a time the police headquarters in Abuja issued a statement condemning the practice and warning that tough measures would be taken against anyone blocking highways under this guise. Unfortunately, nothing came of it. They are everywhere on our highways and appear to be above the law.”
The crisis extends beyond the Lagos-Onitsha axis. Travelers plying routes from Abuja to the South-East have reported “mindless” and “reckless” extortion, where vehicles are allegedly forced to pay at every checkpoint or face lengthy delays. The convergence of official security checkpoints and criminal roadblocks has created a gauntlet that transforms what should be straightforward holiday travel into an expensive and traumatic ordeal. Families report being stopped multiple times within short distances, with each stop bringing fresh demands for payment.
A Systematic Problem
The current Christmas crisis sits atop a foundation of systematic extortion that has plagued Nigerian highways for years. A 2024 report by Intersociety, Anambra state based human rights organisation alleged that police and military personnel had extorted ₦21.8 billion at roadblocks in the South-East region, with high-revenue collection points including the Uga Junction and Atani Road Naval checkpoints in Onitsha.
Earlier in 2024, investigations documented over 120 security checkpoints along the 464-kilometer journey from Lagos to Aba—a trip that should take six to eight hours but regularly requires 12 to 16 hours. The breakdown showed approximately 40 checkpoints between Lagos and Ore, 46 between Ore and Benin, and 25 between Benin and Onitsha.
Transportation operators have reported paying fixed amounts at official security checkpoints: ₦2,000 to ₦3,000 per truck, ₦500 to ₦1,000 per bus, and ₦200 to ₦500 per car. Some security personnel have been observed using Point of Sale (POS) machines to collect payments from travelers.
The late President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, documented the issue in 2019, describing the checkpoints as “mere toll gates” where security agents were “mainly interested in extorting money from numerous Igbos passing through them.”
From Security to Shakedown
The heavy security presence in the Southeast originated with military operations launched in 2016 to combat rising insecurity from armed groups, kidnapping, and violent crime. Operation Python Dance and subsequent exercises deployed soldiers to checkpoints across the region. While these operations initially aimed to protect travelers, critics argue they have evolved into instruments of extortion and harassment. Emmanuel Onwubiko, national coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), noted that checkpoints have become places where “innocent Nigerians are subjected to different degrees of inhuman treatments for failing to pay bribes.”
Beyond extortion, travelers report being forced to disembark from vehicles and walk through military checkpoints with hands raised—a practice HURIWA has condemned as unconstitutional and dehumanizing.
When contacted for comment on the Christmas extortion crisis, Force Public Relations Officer ACP Benjamin Hundeyin said he would reach out to police spokespersons in affected states but had not responded by press time.
Imo State Commissioner of Police Aboki Danjuma has urged residents to report cases of extortion and brutalization to the command, though such appeals ring hollow for travelers who have witnessed direct police complicity or indifference to the criminal activities. The apparent coordination between criminal gangs and security forces, evidenced by police officers’ refusal to intervene when victims report harassment happening meters away, suggests the problem runs deeper than isolated incidents of corruption.
For millions of Nigerians attempting to reunite with family for Christmas, the journey home has become an expensive gauntlet of harassment and humiliation. The convergence of official checkpoints demanding “toll” payments and criminal roadblocks demanding fictitious licenses has transformed basic mobility into a high-risk, high-cost undertaking. As families calculate not just travel time but extortion budgets into their holiday plans, the crisis represents a fundamental failure of governance and security. The roads that should connect Nigerians to their loved ones during the festive season have instead become profit centers where citizens are treated as targets rather than protected as travelers.
For now, those who can afford the multiple payments make it through. Those who cannot, or who dare to resist, find themselves stranded on rough roads under the December sun—casualties of a system where the line between law enforcement and criminality has been erased.
