Nigeria, June 1 -- On April 27, President Muhammadu Buhari during his third nationwide broadcast on measures taken by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus announced a ban on non-essential interstate travels. The president also declared a nationwide curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

What Mr Buhari may not have realised was that his directive would create an extortion bazaar for security personnel, state government officials and other non-state actors across the country.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation across the six geo-political regions of Nigeria revealed that state governors who had originally called for the ban on interstate travels did very little in their domains to ensure full compliance; with some choosing rather to erec...