By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA
What was meant to be a solemn journey of remembrance and service has reportedly turned into a nightmarish encounter, leaving a trail of pain, outrage, and renewed questions about police conduct in Edo State.
In the early hours of today, Mr. Efosa Sulaiman Lawani, a member of the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), also known as the Pyrates Confraternity, was allegedly brutally assaulted and molested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force while traveling through Edo State on his way to Enugu.
Mr. Lawani was en route to the 2026 NAS Memorial Lecture, an annual intellectual gathering held in honour of Late Ralph Okpara, one of the founding fathers of the Pyrates Confraternity. The lecture, regarded as a cornerstone event within the Association, is scheduled to be delivered by Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), a fact that underscores the lawful, intellectual, and national stature of the event. This year’s Ralph Okpara Memorial Lecture is titled “Judicial Corruption In Nigeria: A Menace To Democracy And Social Justice”.
According to multiple accounts from associates and witnesses, the ordeal began at a police checkpoint where Mr. Lawani was stopped and searched. He was allegedly singled out after officers discovered NAS-branded souvenirs in his possession, items meant for distribution at the memorial lecture. What followed, sources claim, was a demand for money. When Mr. Lawani reportedly declined to offer a bribe, the encounter allegedly degenerated into physical assault, intimidation, and degrading treatment.
Those close to him say the incident has left him shaken and injured, turning what should have been an act of service to his organisation into a deeply traumatic experience.
Mr. Lawani, a native of Benin City and a Lagos-based businessman, is widely described by friends and colleagues as soft-spoken, responsible, and non-confrontational. Within the Pyrates Confraternity, he is known for voluntarily transporting souvenirs and logistics materials to events across Nigeria, often at personal cost. For many who know him, the allegation that he was treated as a criminal for carrying association materials is both painful and bewildering.
Beyond the personal trauma, the incident has reopened unhealed wounds from the past. Just last year, members of the Pyrates Confraternity returning from their annual Convention reportedly suffered similar harassment at the hands of officers of the Edo State Police Command, an encounter that allegedly culminated in the extortion of over ₦2 million. That incident only de-escalated after the intervention of the then Commissioner of Police, who reportedly ordered the refund of the money recovered from the implicated officers.
Rights advocates say the recurrence of such allegations raises troubling questions: Have lessons been learned? Were sanctions enforced? Or has impunity quietly endured?
As of the time of filing this report, Mr. Lawani was said to be in police custody and being taken to the Police Cottage in Benin City, sparking growing anxiety among family members, colleagues, and rights groups over his physical condition, access to medical care, and due process.
Civil society organisations, legal practitioners, and concerned citizens have since begun calling for an immediate, transparent investigation into the incident. They are demanding that the Edo State Police Command publicly clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrest, identify the officers involved, and assure the public that Mr. Lawani’s rights and safety are being protected.
For many Nigerians, the incident is no longer just about one man’s ordeal. It has become another painful chapter in the national conversation on police accountability, abuse of power, and the everyday vulnerability of citizens on Nigeria’s roads.
As the nation awaits an official response from the Edo State Police Command, one question lingers heavily in the air: How many more journeys of service must end in suffering before meaningful reform takes root?