Men from Special Anti-
READ HER STORY.....
''I live and work in Abuja. My car broke down on my way to Wuse 2 on the morning of Tuesday the 6thMay 2014 so I picked a taxi (‘a
drop’) to get to where I was going. We got to the Ministry of Finance
junction where there was a very long, slow traffic. the incident
i'm narrating took place there at around 9.30a.m. that Tuesday morning
While we were waiting like other motorists for the traffic to move, 2 truckloads of SARS officers were trying very hard to maneuver through the traffic and get to wherever It was they were going. Of
course we are all used to that in this country so it didn’t bother me
and I kept texting away on my phone. They were blowing their car horns
very impatiently behind us and the taxi driver was grumbling about it.
he was complaining that because the road was jam packed, there was
nowhere for him to move to in order to get out of their way and that he didn’t understand what they wanted him to do.
Eventually
they squeezed past the taxi I was in and as they did that, one of the
officers leaned out of the truck and spat into the taxi driver’s face.
The latter got upset and started asking them (through his window) what
he did to deserve getting spat upon.
I begged him not to ask any questions, just focus on the traffic so we'd get out of there . I’m one of those Nigerians who is TERRIFIED of any one in uniform and would just rather run in a different direction if I see any of them. I’ve
heard how they unleash brute force for no justifiable reasons on
ordinary citizens. besides I was running late and needed to get to my
destination as soon as the traffic cleared. Last thing I wanted was
drama with any armed people on the highway. after pleading with the
driver for a while, he calmed down and kept quiet. the traffic was
still not moving at this point.
About two minutes after they drove past us, the SARS trucks stopped a few metres from the
taxi I was in. about 6 officers rushed out and sorrounded the taxi.
Before I could ask what the problem was, each of the taxi’s back doors
(where I was sitting alone) were flung open and two hefty men with guns were pulling my hands (with heavy brute force) from
the 2 different sides of the back seat and screaming at me to ‘come
down from the car'. A third man was also at the right door was pointing a
gun in my face and yelling at me to get out while 2 of the armed
men were at the driver’s seat area.
They
were all yelling at the tops of their voices and I wasn’t too sure what
the commotion was about but at some point I heard one of them say ;
‘she recorded our
car number, and she needs to explain why’. 3 days later my entire
shoulder region and upper back are still sore because of all that
pulling of my hands with so much force. Of course I wouldn’t get out of
the car because I was scared stiff. Who wouldn’t be? about 6
hefty men with loaded guns screaming at me in extreme fury, who knows
what they wanted to do exactly? Besides I don’t know what it was i did
to them and what exactly it was they wanted from me.
So
I sat in the middle of the back seat and refused to move while they
kept pulling at my hands from both sides of the back of the car. This
must have gone for about 3 – 5 minutes, (I’m not sure), when one of them
who looked decent rushed to the scene and asked them to stand down.
That was how they drove off.
Trust
Nigerians, everyone just kept carrying on with their own business as if
nothing strange was happening at the Federal Ministry of Finance
junction that morning. Although it’s possible that other vehicles on the
road were not exactly sure what was going on. The taxi driver told me
later that those were men of the SARS team. he explained that the SARS
team are highly dreaded in the FCT and that no one would even attempt to
come anywhere near them whenever they decide to ‘perform.’ I’m told
they allegedly shoot and kill and rape at will and no one can dare
challenge them. I don’t know about that, but from my own experience …
IT WAS AS THEY DROVE OFF THAT I QUICKLY SCRIBBLED THE CLOSEST CAR NUMBER I COULD SEE ON THE PALM OF MY HAND WITH A PEN. They drove into the three arms zone road leading to the National Assembly. The car number was : BA 5974 YAB
I have been asking myself a couple of questions?
- Why has this team not been sent into the forests in Borno to show ‘power’ there?
- Why don’t these SARS officers who have a lot of ‘power’ when they meet a defenceless woman at the backseat of a taxi use the same power to bully the boko haram insurgents out of existence?
- In what universe did I look or act like an armed robber for SARS to want to apprehend me in broad day light when I’m all dressed up rushing to work?
- What was it that scared them about the possibility of someone taking down their car number that got them acting like people in a drug induced frenzy?
I’m
glad my God didn’t let things get worse than that day because they so
easily could have. Perhaps someone who can look into this and instill
some control within the SARS team also gets to read this blog. they are
COMPLETELY out of order''
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