How SARS Arrested Me and My Guys in a Benz C350, a Young man shared his sad experience with #EndSARS

Sometimes I ask myself, “When will a security agency in Nigeria, especially the police, make me feel safe?” There are so many sad stories about the police.

Nigerian youth protested #EndSARS in large numbers a few years ago, but I guess nothing was done because so many people still complain about what happened. A few days ago, a Twitter user with the handle @Splanky_ wrote about a sad event with #EndSARS.

SARS arrested me and my guys in a C350 Benz coming back from bayelsa to Enugu state. Asked for papers/documents, we provided every info they needed but they refused to leave us.

-Threatened us with “stolen vehicle” and they’ll shoot and throw us away despite seeing our papers. Took us to a different state, various police stations, asked for 2m, came down to 500k. This Sars guy entered our car and was driving recklessly and trying to search my phone

-at the same time only to run us into a stationed vehicle in front of NAF Harmony Estate in Port Harcourt. We came out with injuries screaming for help.The police man wearing the face cap is the leader of the Sars group that arrested us and took us (students) to a different state

Luckily enough, the man whose car we hit placed a call and the Air Force armies came out in seconds, arrested the SARS Man wearing a black face cap (their oga) while the others ran away into their hilux including the one that ran our car into that stationed vehicle.

The whole scenario escalated so fast and a police intelligence unit appeared, arrested the two police (Sars officers), asked us a few questions and left with one of us who went to their headquarters at Old GRA Port Harcourt to write a statement.We were told to come back tomorrow, An hour ago, we went to get dinner at De Choice eatry alakaya PH after the horrible incident.

We took two taxis, while coming back, one of the taxis got intercepted by another unit of Sars and they were whisked away to an unknown location, we haven’t been able to reach them.

We were ambushed by another unit of Sars. We took two taxis, I was in the first taxi, while they intercepted my friends in the second taxi. They whisked away with them to an unknown location, after trying to reach them for so many hours, finally their line became accessible and.

Called my guys in the second taxi,they said they’ve been released and we should come pick them up at alakaya,but we suspected that this could be a set up but still decided to go fetch them.Only to discover that it was an ambush by the same Sars men that intercepted their taxi, We got arrested again. This was around 11pm to 12am. Remember we just survived a ghastly car accident o. We were taken to station again, saw our friends in handcuffs, we narrated everything that happened yesterday, they decided to let some of us go if we make a video claiming

that we’re fraudsters (yahoo boys) and they said our friends are on handcuffs because they refused to speak the truth, “they won’t be released”. If we’re willing to go that night, they would collect nothing from us but they’ll make a video of us agreeing that we’re fraudsters

After passing through such experience yesterday, we couldn’t afford being detained in cell with handcuffs. Under duress, we made the video, then they let us go. Dropped us off on a lonely road and suggested 2 hotels for us to sleep saying it’s cheap. This a disclaimer video

Meanwhile we quietly refused to lodge in any of the hotels they suggested for us.Right now some of my friends are still locked up and asked to pay 600k/1m for refusing to speak “The Truth”. Food we bought last night, we couldn’t eat due to loss of appetite and I still feel pains

in my body and traumatized from the accident that happened yesterday (it was my first time). Haven’t been able to visit a hospital yet. But I just want to return back to school safely for now.

To add to this thread, our phones were collected each time the Sars men carried us. They don’t let us call our parents/guardians except it’s someone willing to borrow us money to pay them and the phone call must be on loud speaker and was monitored.