Corruption on the Road: a Test of Commercial Drivers’ Encounters with Police Extortion in Lagos Metropolis

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the public outcry over the incidence of police corruption in Nigeria has increased despite concerted efforts to reform the police and improve their service delivery. Of recent, the public resentment of police involvement in street corruption, abuse of crime suspects, and extra-judicial killings has caught the attention of the international community and led to human rights groups’ agitation for the overhauling of the police particularly the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This study was conducted to investigate the experience of police corruption, specifically extortion and victimization, among commercial drivers in Lagos metropolis. The study sought to know whether the nature of service rendered by the commercial drivers and their level of education are associated with police extortion and victimization. It also investigated other possible predictors of exposure to police extortion. The study was carried out among taxi drivers, commercial bus drivers, motorcyclists, and tricyclists in Ikeja, Mushin, and Somolu local government areas of the state. The study adopted cross-sectional survey design and mixed method of data collection. Multi-stage sampling and convenience sampling techniques were adopted. A sample size of 300 was chosen. Structured questionnaire, observation, and in-depth interview guide were used to gather data from participants. It was found that the nature of service rendered by the commercial drivers were associated with both experience of victimization (χ² 13.229; p = 0.004) and police extortion (χ² = 9.630; p = 0.022), while the level of education was not significant. Ethnicity and encounter with police were other significant predictors of exposure to police extortion.

Appendix

Table 5 Descriptive statistics of respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics