The Forum of South-East Academic Doctors (FOSAD) raises serious alarm over the growing proliferation of military and police roadblocks across major expressways in the Southeast. While recognizing the constitutional duty of security agencies to protect lives and property, we are deeply disturbed that routine security checks have degenerated into widespread harassment, intimidation, and extortion of motorists, commuters, and transport operators.
The Southeast, already battling serious economic and security challenges, cannot afford the additional hardship imposed by these practices. Excessive checkpoints, some located only a few meters apart, have created long travel delays, disrupted commerce, and inflated the cost of transporting goods, particularly perishable agricultural produce. More importantly, they erode the fundamental right to freedom of movement guaranteed by Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution and foster growing mistrust between citizens and security operatives.
What should be symbols of safety have become flashpoints of fear. By monetizing access to free passage, these roadblocks undermine both community-based security initiatives and the federal government’s stated commitment to economic recovery, food security, and regional integration. This state of affairs is not only unsustainable but also a serious threat to peace, prosperity, and public confidence in governance.
Even more worrisome is the glaring regional disparity. Such checkpoints are rare in other parts of Nigeria, and where they exist, commuters are not subjected to the levels of extortion, dehumanisation, harassment, and intimidation routinely experienced in the Southeast. This uneven practice fuels a perception of bias and marginalisation, further deepening distrust between the people of the region and state institutions.
FOSAD therefore calls on the Federal Government, through the Presidency, the Ministry of Defence, and the Nigeria Police Force, to urgently review the current security architecture on Southeast highways. We urge that unnecessary roadblocks be dismantled, with personnel redeployed to more strategic and intelligence-driven operations.
Security management should also be modernised through the adoption of technology-driven surveillance tools such as CCTV, dashcams, and body cameras to check abuse. In addition, independent hotlines and reporting platforms should be created to enable citizens document and report cases of extortion and harassment. Officers who exploit their uniforms for personal gain must face strict disciplinary measures to restore public confidence.
Equally important is the strengthening of community-based policing models that emphasize partnership, intelligence gathering, and respect for human dignity. By building trust between citizens and law enforcement, security agencies can achieve more sustainable peace and safety across the region.
In addition, we call on the National Assembly and state governments of the Southeast to initiate urgent inquiries into these practices and ensure that security provision does not translate into economic strangulation. Civil society and the media must also remain vigilant in documenting and exposing abuses at these checkpoints.
The Southeast deserves security that safeguards dignity, guarantees free movement, and enables economic prosperity, not one that compounds the burdens of its people. True security must protect both lives and livelihoods.
Signed:
Dr. Stephen Nwala
President
Forum of South-East Academic Doctors (FOSAD)
Dr. Uzor Ngoladi
Secretary General
Forum of South-East Academic Doctors (FOSAD)
