A traveller has gone viral after allegedly using AI-powered smart glasses — wearable glasses with a built-in camera that can quietly record video — to capture security operatives at a checkpoint in Imo State reportedly demanding he remove the glasses and delete the footage.
In the footage, the operatives are heard asking, “Why are you wearing camera glasses? Why are you recording on the road with your glasses? Remove them immediately.” The man who shared the video said the glasses later switched off on their own due to a low battery, after the operatives had already collected them.
The man alleged that the operatives went on to extort ₦200,000 from him. According to reports, the officers accused him of being linked to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and reportedly forced him to transfer money from his OPay account and a cryptocurrency wallet during the encounter.
A New Kind of Evidence Against an Old Problem
What makes this case stand out is not the allegation itself, but the tool used to capture it. Smart glasses record discreetly, often with only a small light indicating that filming is happening, making it far harder for anyone being recorded to notice in real time. In this case, that appears to be exactly what worried the operatives enough to demand the glasses be handed over and the footage deleted.
Checkpoint Extortion Has a Long History in Nigeria
Complaints about security operatives demanding money at checkpoints are not new, and neither are the promises to end it. As far back as 1998, then Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Coomassie ordered the dismantling of all police roadblocks over widespread abuse, a directive that was never fully enforced. Since then, successive police chiefs have repeated similar orders, without lasting results.
More recent cases echo this one closely. In May 2025, a viral video showed a police officer on the Benin Bypass in Edo State demanding fuel or ₦5,000 from motorists, prompting the Inspector-General of Police to order disciplinary action against the officers involved. Just weeks ago, four police officers were arrested in Abuja after allegedly mounting a fake checkpoint and extorting ₦53,000 from the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, escorting him to a nearby POS terminal to withdraw the cash.
These cases point to a pattern that has moved with technology rather than away from it: instead of collecting cash directly, officers increasingly walk victims to POS agents or ask for bank transfers, which the Nigeria Police Force has acknowledged is now widespread enough that it recently ordered POS operators to stay at least 200 metres away from police stations.
Why This Keeps Happening (Causes and Effects)
A few things explain why checkpoint extortion has outlasted decades of directives to end it.
First, enforcement has never matched the announcements. Nearly every recent Inspector-General of Police has publicly banned illegal checkpoints, yet officers who ignore the order rarely face lasting consequences beyond a transfer, demotion, or a closed-door disciplinary hearing.
Second, the underlying incentives have not changed. Many officers work under difficult conditions with low pay, and checkpoints remain one of the most direct ways to collect informal money from the public, regardless of how many times the practice is officially condemned.
Third, this incident specifically raises a new concern: intimidation used to suppress evidence. If operatives can pressure a civilian into deleting video evidence of alleged wrongdoing, or confiscate a device that recorded it, victims lose one of the few tools that has made past cases go viral and, in some instances, led to disciplinary action. For Nigeria as a country, this weakens public trust not just in checkpoint policing specifically, but in the broader promise that citizens can safely document and report abuse of power without facing further intimidation.
Possible Solutions
Independent, fast-tracked investigation of viral cases. Cases that go viral often prompt swift public statements but slower follow-through. A dedicated unit to investigate and publicly report outcomes, not just announce disciplinary hearings, would build more trust than repeated promises.
Clear rules protecting citizens who record security personnel in public. Nigerians currently have no clear, well-publicised legal protection for recording police or security operatives during a lawful stop, which leaves room for intimidation. Clarifying this right would reduce confrontations like this one.
Restricting cash and informal transfer collection at checkpoints entirely. Since forced POS and bank transfers have replaced cash demands, formally banning any on-the-spot payment collection by checkpoint officers, with violations tied to automatic suspension, could close that loophole.
A public complaints tracker. A simple, public dashboard showing how many extortion complaints are filed, investigated, and resolved each month would let Nigerians see whether these repeated bans are actually working.
The Bigger Picture
What strikes me about this case is how familiar it feels, even with new technology at the centre of it. The tools change, cameras get smaller, and payments move from cash to transfers, but the underlying problem has stayed exactly the same for decades: officers empowered to stop citizens on the road, and very little real consequence when that power is abused. A pair of smart glasses briefly gave one traveller the evidence to tell his story publicly. But evidence alone has proven, over and over again in Nigeria, not to be enough. Until accountability catches up with the abuse, expect the next viral video to look a lot like this one.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
