A badge, a bullet, and a broken system; the night an Officer’s power became a weapon.
What happens in a country where uniformed officers who have been trained to protect the citizens not only fail in their duties but also turn against themselves?
Phrases like “The police are your friend” were established to make the people feel at ease, safe, and secure, but are they truly your friend? The normal citizens have felt unsafe, even in the presence of these people who should be their safety, and worse, even the uniformed men have felt unsafe too.
On the night of Friday, May 9, 2025, a street in Abuja bore witness to something that no uniformed institution should ever condone – a betrayal of duty, dignity, and decency.
Three young officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) set out to ease the burden of a long, exhausting week. A simple plan – to attend a show just a few miles away – turned into a nightmare that would remain in their minds forever. Ayo, one of the officers, had no idea that that night would leave him bleeding on the ground and fighting for his life. Not from a criminal, but from a fellow officer; a man sworn to guard and protect.
On the way, they met him, an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Darlington, Assistant Superintendent of Corps I, who is also popularly called Pastor. With no provocation, he stopped them, demanding their destination at that time of the night. They respectfully told him where they were headed and even presented their identification.
Instead of recognition, they were met with harsh accusations.
“You are thieves!” Pastor accused, as he seized their ID cards and put them in his pocket.
They tried to defend themselves, but Pastor listened deafly. Then, without proof and cause, he summoned a group of men he claimed were vigilantes—men without identification.
The situation, which started as a mere “stop and interrogate,” escalated in the blink of an eye.
The three young officers pleaded, saying, “Call our office,” “Come to our houses, we live nearby,” all in a bid to save themselves from what the situation seemed to be turning out to be, but logic fell on deaf ears. Pastor had made up his mind, and his ego needed to be fed.
Then the unthinkable happened.
“I will shoot you all down, and the Ministry of Interior will do nothing about it!” He barked at them with a smugness that only came from a man who felt he possessed the power of life and death in his uniform.
The threat wasn’t a mere bluff, and people were starting to gather. Pastor continued to call them thieves, and people familiar with how thieves are treated would understand what might have been going through the minds of the young, innocent officers. It was out of trepidation for the growing, threatening crowd, who easily believed a uniform officer that they were indeed thieves, that Ayo took flight, just to escape the situation and save himself.
Unfortunately, before Ayo could go far, Pastor cocked his gun and shot him on the chest area.
Ayo fell, and his blood spilled.
The two other officers realized that they too were in grave danger, and they cried and begged, and shouted at the top of their lungs, saying, “It hasn’t gotten to this! We have done nothing wrong!” They wanted to be heard amidst the rowdiness, but no one would listen to them.
As more people came out to witness what was going on, Ayo’s neighbor joined them. You can imagine his shock when he saw Ayo on the ground, bleeding to death. He began to scream vehemently that Ayo was his neighbor, and not a thief. He then confronted Pastor as to why he would shoot Ayo, and Pastor grew upset and shot him too, on his lap.
The entire street was filled with chaos, but even in the midst of it, one of the two NIS officers was able to escape successfully. He ran to their headquarters to raise the alarm. By the time they arrived at the scene, Pastor and the vigilante men had fled.
While all of these were happening, Ayo was on the ground for three agonizing hours, bleeding, unattended to, abandoned, and brutalized, as well as his neighbor, who tried to stand up for him, all because one man in uniform was desperate to exercise power.
However, they didn’t disappear from the memories of those who witnessed the brutality, cruelty, and lack of human sympathy. They did not vanish from the trauma, the truth, and from the blood that was spilled on the pavement that night.
As of now, Pastor has been found and arrested. However, whispers are growing louder that the NSCDC is trying to distance itself from him. They want to blur the lines and shift the narrative, but the fact remains that Pastor wore their badge, held their weapon, and acted under their name.
Currently, Ayo and his neighbor lie in the hospital. Ayo’s case is more critical and is in the ICU at the National Hospital in Abuja, fighting for his life.
Till now, their ID cards have not been recovered from Pastor’s possession.
The callout isn’t only about Ayo and his neighbor, but about every abuse of power that has gone unchecked, every junior officer silenced by fear, and every uniform used as a license to dominate and threaten instead of protect.
The NIS is fighting for justice, and so are the friends, family, and loved ones of Ayo and his neighbor, who were almost killed. They are demanding accountability. They are demanding a public statement from the Ministry of Interior. They are demanding that NSCDC not only dismiss Pastor for misuse of power and weapon, but also publicly acknowledge the evil that was committed. They are demanding that the Nigerian Police charge him with attempted murder.
What happened that night wasn’t a misunderstanding; it was a crime, an intentional one at that.
He saw their ID cards, he heard their explanations, but none of it mattered as he continued to insist that he hadn’t seen them in that street before, and that they were thieves. There was absolutely nothing on these three young men that indicated that they were thieves or even harmful.
This is to tell us that no one and nowhere is safe in the country. That instead of seeing these uniformed officers and feeling safe, we should be scared and worried for our lives.
If this is allowed to slide, it is telling every officer out there that their ego is worth more than a man’s life.
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This is so sad.
Really sad and scary.
It’s so sad, may Nigeria never happen to us.
A very valid prayer point.
Words fail me on this matter😑
Truth is, the liberty at which some armed forces have in the use of guns should be questioned…
They shouldn’t even be allowed to carry them unless need be cos some of them don’t have the orientation and good sense of judgement cos tell me why you aren’t threatened as an officer but your first line of action in a situation as this is use of gun
God help us in Nigeria
I honestly don’t know how use of guns can be regulated in this country🤦🏼♀️
This isn’t just about poor training, if you’ve experienced brutality in the hands of those in uniforms you’ll see that it’s deep rooted corruption and abuse of power. Too many in uniform have turned their weapons on the people they swore to protect, acting with impunity. Until there’s real accountability and reform, the cycle of brutality will continue.
It’s heartbreaking to see those meant to protect us turn into monsters because of power and corruption. The Innocent gets the criminal treatment and sometimes gets killed in the process and families are left with pain that never heals. Even a criminal has a right to not to be handled in a type of way. This isn’t war, it’s oppression. It should stop already!
It should honestly stop😢
Not everyone should hold a weapon, because I don’t get it…
That officer might be high on something, if he couldn’t recognize his fellow officers… Meaning the ordinary citizens are in deep shit😔😔😔😔
Serious deep shit!
I love the fact that it’s highlighted that this was INTENTIONAL. He’d probably wanted to do it for a long time now. Maybe a vendetta of some sort but Ayo and his neighbour deserved none of this. This is so sad!
Because tell me why he took their ID cards and seized it and continued to insist that they were thieves🤷♀️
This is so so sad…
May we never fall victims of those evil doers
Amen!
It is disheartening that this evil men will commit and later roam the streets as free men after sometimes when the case dies down. Cos nobody wants to take time and do a followup on the case..
Something like this also happened in Oyo where a WAEC bound student was shot dead…
Gun regulations should be taken into considerations.
Shooting at an unarmed person/citizen should be a crime against men on uniform…
This is an interesting read…
It is disheartening that this evil men will commit and later roam the streets as free men after sometimes when the case dies down. Cos nobody wants to take time and do a followup on the case..
Something like this also happened in Oyo where a WAEC bound student was shot dead…
Gun regulations should be taken into considerations.
Shooting at an unarmed person/citizen should be a crime against men on uniform…
Gun regulations in this country, because what is this??🤦🏼♀️
I was telling someone last week that one of the numerous reasons some people relocate from Nigeria is not because they are poor. Many people lived comfortably in Nigeria before they left.
It’s a country where you are more afraid of the police than of armed robbers, a country where government policies can take you from ten to zero, a country where a sitting president has done nothing tangible yet is already campaigning for the next election, which is two years away. A country called Nigeria.
Hopefully, God will hear our prayers and one day give us the country we so deeply desire, because we do not deserve all of this.
So sad for Ayo, Nigeria happened to him, even as a staff member of a federal parastatal. What then is the fate of the common man?
What then is our faith???