Rivers man laments repeated torture by SARS operatives
A man , Vaughn Itemuagbor , has narrated his ordeal at the hands of officers of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force in Rivers State .
Itemuagbor, in a Facebook post, shared pictures of the bruises he sustained during torture last Sunday.
The images showed his arms covered in scars and his elbow appeared swollen.
He noted that he was pulled over by a SARS officer and asked to confess to being a ‘ yahoo boy’ , a popular slang for an Internet fraudster .
He noted that the incident was the second this year .
According to Itemuagbor , the SARS officer told him that as a young man driving a car in Port Harcourt , “ you must be guilty of some crimes . ”
He stated, “ That is their justification for beating me up . ‘ Admit you are a yahoo boy and write it down here or else I will continue. ’ Those are the words he repeated as he raised his hands and landed multiple blows on my body .
“ At the end of the day , they took N 150, 000 from me and asked me to write that I offered them a bribe to facilitate my release. All this happened under three hours on Sunday . Very sad and depressed . A country of animals and illiterates. ”
Itemuagbor, who described himself as ‘ the hardest worker in the room , ’ said his weeks were dominated by 18 to 20-hour work days.
He added “ That ’ s how I have got this far in life. I studied Plant Science in school, realised the knowledge I was getting from studying plants wouldn’ t be enough to build the life I want for me and my family .
“ I took up computer programming and I am entirely self -taught . I have learned and mastered multiple programming languages to the point where I am officially one of the most sought – after computer programmers in Nigeria .
“ I work very hard. To have to endure this much torture on a monthly basis at the hands of those who have been charged with securing our lives is just sad. I am fed up with Nigeria . I have reported this incident to the Nigeria Police multiple times and nothing has ever been done . ”
He stated that the incident had been reported to the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit of the police and that nothing had been done .
When contacted , the spokesperson for the police in Rivers, Mr . Nnamdi Omoni , said , “ He should come to my office and make a complaint . We will find a way of getting his N 150, 000 back for him . ”