A Nigerian PhD scholar has alleged two policemen demanded his bank account number and ATM card after he was caught driving with expired road tax last month.
Mustapha Ishaq Akinlaso, 30, claimed the policemen held his passport and told him he would be released if he disclosed his account number.
A livid Mustapha asked: “Why would police want my bank account number when the offence was driving with expired road tax?
The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance student said he should have been arrested if police believed he was in possession of a stolen ATM card.
“Even if police have reasonable cause to believe that an ATM card was stolen, how would the suspect know the owner’s bank account number?”
Clearly, people are discouraged from sharing banking details, including the ATM pin, with anyone for safety reasons.
Mustapha’s experience provokes questions about police authority when carrying out a stop and search.
Are stop and search powers being used in an unequal and unjustifiable way, particularly in relation to foreigners?
In order to stop and search, a policeman must have reasonable grounds to suspect the person has a stolen article.
Reasonable suspicion must be unbiased. It must not be based on a person’s race, appearance and stereotypes or generalisations about certain groups of people or their religion.
Mustapha believes he was a victim of racial profiling.
He claimed one of the policemen implied Nigerians here were up to no good such as Internet scamming.
“It is hurtful that he generalised every Nigerian as bad when many are here legally and making an honest living,” he said.
Mustapha represented Middle East think tank Al Sharq as a youth speaker at the Kuala Lumpur Summit last year that saw a gathering of Muslim leaders, intellectuals and scholars.
While the Al Sharq Youth Forum, a network of committed youth in seven regions across the globe, might be leading change towards a more inclusive and just world, Mustapha feels he has been treated unjustly over a case of expired road tax.
Mustapha’s unpleasant experience should be a launch pad for a more refined approach by law enforcement in dealing with foreigners.
Serdang police chief Ismadi Borhan told FMT an investigation was underway into Mustapha’s allegations.
He said Mustapha and the two policemen will have their statements recorded this morning and gave an assurance that any abuse of power would be dealt with severely.
Asked whether it was standard operating procedure to demand the bank details of a person who has been stopped and searched, he said: “It depends on the situation.”
He said it would be inappropriate to comment further as Mustapha’s complaint was being investigated.
Mustapha’s ordeal began on Sept 27 when he was heading home to Petaling Jaya with his two housemates, a fellow Nigerian and a Chadian, both students.
A patrol car pulled them over at a traffic light intersection in Serdang Perdana at about 11.50pm.
He was driving his Toyota Corolla with an expired road tax and expected a summons for the offence.
Instead, upon seeing his ATM card along with other items from his pockets that he had laid on top of the car boot to facilitate a body search, one of the policemen allegedly asked him for his bank account number.
In his police report on the encounter, Mustapha said the policeman did not give a convincing reason why he wanted the account number.
Mustapha told the patrolman he would divulge his account number if he was a suspect in an investigation.
“You don’t just stop people and ask them for their bank account number,” he said, adding he feared his personal data could be compromised.
One of the policemen then seized his passport and ordered him to follow them to the police station to verify if he was the owner of the ATM card.
“My friends and I obliged to go to the station as we wanted them to provide the reason for wanting the bank account number,” he said.
The two policemen, he said, tried in vain for three hours to get his account number with no reason outside the main building of the Bandar Kinrara police station.
“It was weird that we were in a police station but arguing outside the main office,” said Mustapha who has been pursuing his studies here for five years.
Mustapha claimed the policemen told him he would be released upon revealing the account number. He didn’t.
He said: “I finally got back my passport and was issued a compound for driving without a valid road tax.
“However, I got worried because one of them used his mobile phone to take pictures of my passport and car.”
“I am afraid my personal information in their possession may be used to perpetrate unlawful acts that I could become unjustly liable.
“I worry that my details could be registered for an offence I did not commit and this will haunt me forever.”
Many of us are not aware of what information related to personal data we should give to police.
Neither can many claim to know what information police are legally bound to give when detaining, arresting or searching.
We must learn to understand law enforcement rather than end up acutely embarrassed.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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