After my Journey from Ghana, I decided to lodge in an hotel because we got to Lagos in the middle of the night and there was no way I could go home. I, tojukaka, @fisteganos, adejoke16, @gee1 and @ibukun.
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The next morning which was 10th of January 2018 was supposed to be a day that I was to meet a fellow Steemian of the name @onos. We were supposed to go to the airport to book a ticket to Akwa Ibon which is another state in Nigeria.
We were supposed to further our Steemit gospel mission. We finally met that day and exchanged pleasantries. We stood by the road side to get a vehicle going to the airport but instead of getting a vehicle going to the airport, we got a vehicle going to the police station. Funny
A small yellow bus packed in front of us and some rugged looking guys came out of the vehicle. Wow it was the police . They got down with guns in their hands. There were like 5 of them plus the driver who is not looking like a police officer.
They came down and asked us where we were going g and we told them airport. All of a sudden they asked us to enter the vehicle. I was about to start explaining myself when the one that looks like their leader shouted at us.
We had no choice and we entered. In the vehicle hey started asking us all sort of questions. Like where we were coming from and where we were going . Though I have not been stopped by a police in that manner before but for the fact that I have a knowledge about Nigerian police, I knew it was one of their raids to exploit innocent citizens.
We provided them with all the information they wanted and they were not still satisfied. I had my bag with me with contained my clothes and my laptop which I took with me to Ghana. They collected our phones and my laptop. They searched it in and out. I know Nigerian police, they want to collect money from us.
They claimed they were looking for fraudulent activities but they got none. They were not satisfied. They already know we were nervous and we wanted to go to the airport. For that reason they took us to their police station becasue they felt they would get money from us.
We got to the police station and asked us to sit down. They won't go straight to the point and were just busy looking for what was not lost on my laptop.
Some of the other police officers left in search off other innocent citizens while they left us with one of them. He later opened up and said we should tip him. I asked for his amount and he said #100,000. I told him I could not pay that all j had was #5,000.
Not that I don't know my rights as a citizen but then I remembered I was in Nigeria and if I tried to claim rights, he might just lock us up and replace us with criminals. We had to beg him.
After a whole lot of begging, he released us but he collected #11,000. So we went to the airport to book the flight.
Since then I have just been thinking about what could be done and how I wanted him to suffer for what he did to us but then I am just an average citizen and my sudden death might not even raise any suspicions. Ill rather let it go and have my precious life to myself
Really horrific. Thanks for sharing this reality with us on here. Take care and I hope things improve.....but I can see now why people feel so hopeless!
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Like @surpassinggoogle will say Nigeria breaks spirit. It's the truth. Nigeria is not just the best place to be. A lot of bad happenings here Nigeria and we have been praying it gets better a very long time ago. I must say I have lost hope in my country.
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There actually is hope. The fact that you feel this way about our country means that there are others out there who feel the same... It will not be sooo easy, but trust me when I say we will win this fight one person at a time.
@ewuoso I have also had the same experience and ended up at the ojota police station
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now why am I not surprised, they see good looking young men which I know you are as potential yahoo boys, and treat them with prejudice, most of them In the profession are frustrated, so they tend to transfer the aggression to the civilians they are meant to protect @klynic.
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Nigeria is just so fucked up
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Yes yes... Aggression is the word. I've got two experiences with them now. Funny enough, the last one was just this past saturday. I was almost a victim of an accident about to be caused by a "drunken" but not drunk driver who was driving recklessly and forcing his way through vehicles as the police wanted to catch him for an offence I didn't know. Thank God for saving me, so I just merely decided to take pictures of the wreckage and the police got me arrested for "taking pictures"... I was dragged into a black maria like I was a culprit they had been looking for long ago and had gone into hiding. It was embarrassing. They collected my phone.
One shameful and unbelievable thing that happened was that police men collected monies from those guys that the driver vandalized their vehicles before they were released. I was like WTF! It was unbelievable to my hearing but that was what happened. It was after then understood why I was arrested. In my mind, I was thinking these guys were doing their job when they arrested the driver after the vandalism, but I was wrong. Their hands are not always clean.
Long story short, they took me to Oshoidi (It was the Lagos task force team) and they had to release me.
Truth is some of them "still dey look face". The only thing I was pained for was the fact that I was delayed. I was not ready to pay them a dime and I didn't. I just chilled for them to do and say all they could and then I'll tell them I needed to see my lawyer. I am willing to be delayed and pay a lawyer for his service than pay those inferiority complex affected people.
If you don't mind, I made a post on my first encounter with them on my blog a long while ago... It makes for an interesting read.
https://steemit.com/nigeria/@dorth/the-tale-of-my-visit-to-a-nigerian-police-station-the-conclusion
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@ewuoso Police in Nigeria are so desperate. They can even kill innocent man because of money if you refuse. Thanks for sharing the truth. Human right is on fire in Nigeria
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For me, i think we don't know our rights and that why a "military group" could still extort from us.
I and my younger brother were in almost same situation but since dad is a lawyer and has given us some lecture on what is right and wrong as to the constitution, we stood our grounds and at the end of the day, we were freed without being harrased.
So my take on this is "next time, call on me if you need somebody" winks. Sorry you and your friend @onos were victims.
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i will surely call on yhu
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Organizing with others in your area who feel the same is a god start. next is to convince friends to join the police so you man infiltrate their ranks (inside man). Next you should in secret begin building up funds and economic influence for a legal battle( and to pay informants who expose corruption) after the money is in place your group should seek to educate the people and hold the police accountable for their abuses. the easiest way to get cops to fall in line is to control the local politicians and get some corruption arrests made. The only way it will truly change is if the people stand up to the Police thugs in large numbers. Continually exposing their activities to the public will have an effect but infiltrating their ranks (politically and Economically) and changing them from within is the most effective method of enacting change. you may be insignificant now but if you wish to help others your value to Nigeria and its people will grow. just tread carefully and remember Infiltrate the system.
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If you are a Nigerian Ghent I guess you should know that the person is playing with death. Life does not matter to this people. Lol
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part of revoloution is to know that your adversary is dangerous. things will only change when the people show they do not fear the police or set up their own cities like what @bania and myself are working on in @d-city are working on. it make take years but the change will happen. Im willing to leave my homeland and come help which is what i am doing starting in Ghana then Nigeria. It takes ambition courage and teamwork to change a world controlled by wolves and vultures. We will meet soon you and your comrades have powerful minds that can help.
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I will be glad to meet you
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Gee! I am willing to work with you. These people have taken me up wrongly twice now. both times though, I have refused to pay them...
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join us on our new discord channel https://discord.gg/CxNPsUA
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Trust me. if you were a guy... You'd have been beaten while claiming your right... these filthy things dont even know anything about the law that they're meant to enforce
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They don't at all
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You don't drag with them next time so it doesn't feel like you are resisting the arrest... Let them take you in and you settle from there... In my own case, I knew a lawyer friend I could call when things get wrong but the way I related with them, they were scared of touching me... I wasn't begging and I wasn't bragging...
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Please I need someone to call too o...
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Sickening. Governments around the world are just monopolies on the initiation of violent force in a geographic region. Their state enforcers are mafia muscle in costumes.
Hopefully cryptocurrency will create a new approach. Money outside their control which will evertually no longer fund their system.
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I totally agree with you .They (Governments)have the power because, their system is funded by taxes, what if cryptocurrencies step in to give power back to the people as it is being done gradually. Let us give ourselves some few years and things will start to change.
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I pray cryptocurrency does not go under as several governments are beginning to kick against its acceptance in their countries.
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It will surely take over. Just a matter of time
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You are right
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They feel they can control everything and nothing will happen to them.
It was in the afternoon that it happened. Broad day light.
They carry laws into their hands and hide under the umbrella of the so called Government.
Its just a matter of time i believe.
Thanks for stopping by, it means a lot to me
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hope you get a chance to check out @d-city it's a plan to build a decentralized crypto based city. we are looking for bright minds to turn hope into reality. Its the brainchild of @bania a Nigerian who seeks to lift up the lives of his fellows with a project that would change the dynamics of the nation!
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Would surely love to check this out...
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Oh so sorry to hear that after a successful encounter with you guys here in Ghana this is what you went through when you got back to your country. It's just a shame for them to do such a thing to innocent citizens whom they are there to protect as their job demands.
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welcome to Nigeria bro
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As a Nigerian, I can relate very well with your post. From my teenage days i have always wondered what could possibly be the panacea to the monstrous corruption bedevilling the Nigerian Police force but as i grow older i have come to realize the fact that it isnt just the Police force but it is a scourge that has eating deep into the fabrics of most agencies in the country and it will take some radical revolution or divine power to bring down the towering height of corruption. The best thing like you have done is to avoid them like a plague. Great post..
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Welcome to Lagos, this happens on a regular basis here... Like any young guy looking good and well dressed is automatically a fraudster in the eyes of these thirsty police officers ... Especially if you have a good phone or laptop on you..
I've had countless encounter with them and it has never went down well
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Well The Nigerian Police is just yet another scam.
When they are hungry they look for whom they will steal from.
Collecting 11,000 naira from an innocent person is stealing. The best course of action is just to avoid them and their problems.
Thank God you are safe @ewuoso.
My own case was the worst, they took me to the station and told me to write a statement saying that I am a criminal.
Who does that?
Well sha, we are in God's hands🙌
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Did you now write that you were a criminal?
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Good to hear that you were not detained and mostly you and your companion/s are OK. Take care always and stay safe. Good luck.
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We are OK but we were delayed and we had to pay through our noses
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Yes it hurts but let's be thankful that you are OK. Charge this one to experience.
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thanks bro
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Man this pisses me off! Corruption is everywhere.
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@ewuoso, smile welcome to Nigeria. so sorry about what really happened....say no to corruption...
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thank you bro
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While the real culprits walk around the streets in broad day light, the people appointed to apprehend them go about victimising innocent citizens..
After somebody will tell me Nigeria will change..
Ok...
until all this nonsense stops, sorry Nigeria is not going anywhere. Every body is corrupt, even those that are supposed to fight it are rehabilitating the corruption. One thing I know is, even if they found anything illegal on you guys, if you just give them money, they'll sweep the case under the carpet...
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You are making a sense. There is just one thing that is driving them and that is money
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Welcome to Nigeria...
Welcome to that part of the world where the police officer suspects everyone especially when they feel they can extort from u..
Nigerian police are corrupt no doubt a very few of them trying to keep the records straight are misunderstood by their fellow colleagues..
I would say if you had stated ur rights there and then..they wouldn't have had that nerve to even order u inside their vehicle..
Your right guarantees that u are eligible to a fair hearing
And you are innocent until proved guilty by a law court..
You also have the right to refuse going with them but at ur own convenient only if they have a warrant of arrest can u obey the rules and follow.. Anything asides that is ultra vires to their powers.. but I guess not in Nigeria.. Nigeria is messed up and it is our duty as citizens to enforce the change we need... We can't be slaves in our own country..
Sorry about the incident though but next time stand firm on ur right and don't flinch..
We deserve better
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I like the fact that you know your rights. I don't know how police operate in your state but police from Lagos State are wicked and can shoot you on the spot because of money
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It is a dicey situation, getting out alive should be the primary objective. Let's hope the law and order takes its course and bring some of these erring officials to order.
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Only a living human being can tell stories. I would have paid more if he had insisted. Not because I have the money but because I value my life more. I know what those guys are capable of
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Hmmm, this is true but still hard to imagine such police harrassment still goes on in this new era
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It could have been worse
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It goes on and it's getting worse by the day!
Most of them knows nothing about the law, imagine how sad it is when you know your rights and you are trying to explain yourself.
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They'll pick every damn words from your mouth...
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yeah thanks
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This country is all messed up mehn.
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All messed up bro and we fold our arms and do nothing about it
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Fact is we can't really do anything about it. That's a friend of mine was arrested by the police 2 years ago. When they couldn't get money off him they accused him of going to bomb the house of former president Goodluck Jonathan.
He slept in police custody for 2 weeks before the matter was resolved.
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that was the reason why i had to pay the money. Nigerian police are very wicked. They can decide to exchange me a criminal that has paid bribe. If they decide to say they found Gun with us. What are we going to do.
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I can travel 45 minutes south by car, enter Mexico in Tijuana from the USA, and experience the exact same thing. In fact, I have. I just haven't been there for a very long time.
In Mexico, they won't usually kill a US citizen (unless you are caught up with cartels or wrong place wrong time). They will jail and keep you until your family or a loved one pays a high amount.
Most people get in trouble for truly breaking the law, but it makes you think twice. This is why I don't go to Mexico, spend any time, or money there.
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All these things are wrong and unfair. Only those that committed an offence should be punished and not innocent people
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And in the wrong place in the US they will plant drugs on you, or stake out certain roads and target out of State vehicles for special treatment. Not taking bribes but looking for any excuse to bust you and extort some revenue for the city. I'm sure POC experience harassment just for the heck of it all the time. Again not for bribes, too easy to prove, just psychological warfare and the chance of getting a bad reaction leading to some kind of conviction. Jail == revenue. And in some places where local mobs with with the police you will get actual bribes. Maybe it is less common or done more discreetly but it exists. Income inequality and broken systems that protect bad actors not expel them always lead to this kind of problem.
Sorry you experienced a much more blatant version of it.
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Oh yea absolutely. There's places you'll just get jacked at gun point. Maybe they'll let you live. In the USA. You gotta know where you are.
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Very sorry to hear about this incident. Glad you made it away okay.
It's a shame the police of this world are so corrupt.
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especially in my country bro
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I just pray this guy's don't stop me the very day I have just 55 Naira in my pocket 😑😑😑😑😑
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Just pray to your God
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That is Nigeria for you, where the security operative see themselves as lord and master. My God help us
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i tell yhu
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Mehn
Wtf.......
You took the right decision she, if not it would have resulted to another thing
Welcome to Nigeria 😂😂
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Another thing that would have passed my power
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You guys have to be thanking God, what if it were to be SAS, @ewuoso, you must have heard of them
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i thanks God ooo
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😁 Please tell him about SAS
he did not even chop slap.. be grateful it ended thr
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Corruption is a very sad worldwide issue, I have been i many similar situations in Mexico I have never undertand why the give guns to dumb people sometimes I believe we would all be better off with out police men they are most of the times in third world countrys the most dangerous persons!!
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the world is just filled with wicked people
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They are just a gang with a uniform, without it and guns they are nobody.
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i tell yhu
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THIS IS REALLY SAD.even with Buhari in power fighting against corruption, those who are supposed to be leading by example are torturing us. first it was sars. once you look good, hanging a bag, wearing dreads and chains, holding an iphone, you're a criminal. If it's the Nigerian police, i won't be surprised because that's how they are.....harassing innocent citizens. I hope you are okay though
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i am. thank yhu so much dear
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Those guys are bastards... Mine I was merely wearing an almost over-sized native and they still came for me...
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okay.....my thesis is buhari's change era is also affecting sars. it's now police n sars. very soon, soldiers will join. This hunger no be here
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Over sized Native and they still came for you bro. I'm pretty sure you were holding an iPhone .
The country casted right from the days of Lord Lugards
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I have witnessed something similar in Anambra state when I went for a program, these said policemen stopped me and after searching and checking my phones, they saw nothing to hold hands on and the next thing they came up with was that, I should provide the receipt of my phone. I got so pissed and it was as I was soaked in a pool of anger. I shouted at them brougt out my NYSC ID and told them that I will take the matter up. Their superior now took me to a corner and begged me to go. These guys are criminals with uniforms in the name of Nigerian Police. Sometimes I wish I was a military personnel. I for don use hand finish all these mumu policemen.
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Lol. It happens a lot. Innocent guys being extorted. I tire for Nigeria
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Its a pathetic situation, extortion is the order of the day, no one is safe or is covered by immunity, even after the search is clean and clear that their is no illegal activities, they still want to swindle you... God help us
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They just wanted the money
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That’s just it
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I'm currently sitting at the airport. The police harassed us too on our way here. We (japfive and myself) engaged them in a very heated argument for a while but they allowed us to go. They couldn't intimidate us.
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Sometimes it is good to stand on your ground
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quite disheartening but its the bitter truth, Nigeria Police are causing more insecurity and harm to Nigeria than the criminals themselves, and the government are not looking into there activities, in a country where the sight of police brings fear to the innocent civilians instead of sense of security, I thank God for you @ewuoso for escaping the jaws of the Nigeria police men.
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It was God bro
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its so sad, seeing what our so called law enforcement is turning to.
i'm glad you guys were not hurt and you all made it safely. steem on bro
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The three major systems that defines a nation is their educational system, health system and security system. But sadly, our security system has been jeopardized by gross corruption, hence the masses suffer the consequences.
Sorry about the unfortunate incident @ewuoso, you will recover all.
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And if you visit Venezuela now you will see another similar madness.
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