A group of Nigerians came together to stop a security officer from arresting a young man for no clear reason.
The officer was dressed in mufti, meaning plain clothes, not uniform. In a video making rounds online, he was seen trying to drag the young man towards a bike. He accused the young man of being a “yahoo boy,” a common name for internet fraudsters.
But the crowd did not allow it. People gathered and questioned why the man was being arrested. As the crowd grew bigger, the officer saw he could not handle the situation. He let go of the young man and started to walk away. As he left, some people threw stones at him.
Why This Keeps Happening
This kind of thing is common in Nigeria now, and there are reasons for it.
One reason is profiling. Many officers think that anyone who owns a laptop, dresses well, or carries a nice phone must be a fraudster. So they arrest people just because of how they look, without any real proof.
Another reason is lack of punishment. Officers who wrongly arrest people are rarely questioned or punished, so it keeps happening. Some officers even use the “yahoo boy” accusation as a way to demand money from young men, threatening to arrest them if they don’t pay.
Some officers also don’t show proper identification when they are in mufti. This makes people suspicious, because they cannot tell if the person is a real officer or not.
Real Cases of Young Boys Wrongly Arrested
This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. Many young Nigerians have shared similar stories.
One case is Oluwaferanmi Moses, a first-year Mechanical Engineering student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). He was arrested on September 19 in Mushin, where he repairs cars. He was later moved to Ijede, Ikorodu, and spent 20 days in custody. He fell seriously sick while there, and the police doctor had to take him to a hospital. His mother said a police officer demanded ₦80,000 to release him. She could only pay ₦50,000, and that was what got him freed. He was never even charged to court. The police also asked for more money before returning his phone to him.
Another case involves a young man whose sister, known online as Tosin, has been asking Nigerians for help to free her younger brother. She said her brother has been locked up in Kirikiri Prison since 2023, after he was picked up during a police raid. Others arrested with him were released, but he was not. She said the case has kept going back and forth in court from 2023 until now, and that the officer who arrested him even told the court that her brother did nothing wrong. Still, he has not been freed. She said her family cannot afford the bail money, and that both their parents have passed away, leaving her alone to fight for him.
However, this second case has been disputed by the Lagos State Government. According to the state’s Attorney-General, Lawal Pedro, the person in the video is not a 14-year-old boy. He said the real person is Michael Adebiyi, who was 18 years old when he was arrested in 2022, alongside two other people, over an armed robbery case. The government said neither Adebiyi nor his lawyers ever raised any complaint about his age during the court case, and called the viral story false information meant to win public sympathy.
Why Cyber Fraud Is Behind This
A big reason why young men are targeted like this is because of cyber fraud, popularly called “yahoo yahoo.” Many young Nigerians have used the internet to scam people over the years, and because of this, many police officers now suspect any young man carrying a laptop or phone, or dressing well, of being a fraudster, even without any proof.
How Cyber Crime Affects Nigeria
Cyber crime has hurt Nigeria in many ways, not just the people who get scammed.
It has damaged how the world sees Nigeria. Because of a few bad people, many people abroad now look at Nigerians with suspicion, thinking every Nigerian they meet online might be trying to scam them. This makes life harder for the many Nigerians who are genuinely working, studying, or doing business online.
It has also affected how other countries treat Nigerians. Some countries have made their visa process harder for Nigerians, asking more questions and rejecting more applications, partly because of the reputation Nigeria has gotten from cyber crime.
It also affects innocent young people who get wrongly suspected simply because they own gadgets or work in tech, even though they have nothing to do with fraud.
Effect of Police Wrongly Arresting Young Boys
Wrongly arresting someone can cause a lot of damage.
For the young man involved, it can spoil his name, especially if people hear he was arrested for “yahoo yahoo” before they know the full story. It can also leave him scared and traumatized, especially if he was handled roughly.
It also damages trust between young people and the police. Many young Nigerians already see the police as something to fear instead of something that protects them, and cases like this make it worse. People also start avoiding the police even when they truly need help, because they are afraid of being wrongly targeted.
There is also a money side to it. Many young Nigerians are now scared to carry laptops or phones, or dress well in public, because they fear being wrongly accused. This affects people who need these things for real work, like those in tech or freelancing.
Possible Solutions
Security agencies should make sure that officers in mufti carry proper identification and can clearly explain why they are arresting someone, if asked. Officers who wrongly arrest or harass people should also face real punishment instead of walking away free.
On the side of the public, it is understandable to resist a wrongful arrest, but it would help more to gather evidence and witnesses and report the officer properly, instead of using violence.
There should also be more awareness that owning gadgets or dressing well does not automatically mean someone is a fraudster. On the cyber crime side, more needs to be done to create real, legitimate job opportunities for young Nigerians, especially in tech, so fewer of them are pushed toward fraud. At the same time, the government and police should focus on properly investigating and catching real criminals, using real evidence, instead of assuming every young man with a laptop is a suspect.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
