By Ragan M. Conteh

Commuters, drivers, Kekeh riders and bike riders plying both east and west end of Freetown have expressed utter frustration over the endless money extortion by traffic police officers deployed along these road corridors.

The complaints have become so many to the extent that the frustrating public have asked the president to sack the Inspector General of Police who they alleged has continued to blind eyes to this negative attitude of his men and women in the blue.

According to the drivers, each of them will spend not less than NLe100 a day in the name of booking at various points.

They also claimed that apart from being exploited through their usual bookings, some police officers who are not traffic personnel also used to harass them to pay NLe10 each.

Citizens opined that the manner in which police officers especially those at the traffic division are jeopardizing state security as they no longer care to check for illegal weapons, drugs and other dangerous substances.

They stressed that traffic officers do collect bribes openly without the least fear of being reprimanded by their superiors or the Anti-corruption Commission.

“The traffic division of the Sierra Leone Police has brought nothing but a disgrace to national security,” the furious drivers charged, stressing that between five and six police officers could be seen at a point harassing innocent drivers instead of performing their official duty.

Sadly, even where government has installed traffic lights, these unpatriotic police officers are now being visibly spotted busy extorting money from poor drivers and kekeh riders.

Notable of such corrupt practice takes place at the Blackhall Road traffic lights where these officers on a daily basis extort money from their victims.

Sources within the corridors of Director of Traffic informed this medium that, each of the police stations in Freetown that deploys traffic officers on the streets receives huge amount of money from these officers for the traffic divisional head.

At various police stations across the country, crime officers are reported to be working in league with their superiors requesting family members to pay money to bail their loved ones knowing same is free.

“Police Officers don’t write reports or complainants without them being bribed,” one suspect’s relative claimed.

Police have also been accused of also conniving with drug dealers, instead of arresting and prosecuting them.

All efforts to reach the Director of Traffic, AIG Moijue for his comment proved futile.