Nigerian journalist detained in Burkina Faso for resisting police bribe demand

A Nigerian journalist and travel YouTuber, Desmond Ike-Chima, has alleged that he was detained by police in Burkina Faso after refusing to pay a bribe during his cross-border assignment.

Ike-Chima, who is on a self-funded expedition tagged Project Travel Africa, is journeying across 16 West African countries by road to document the ease and challenges of doing business within the region.

The incident occurred at Cinkansé, a border town between Togo and Burkina Faso. According to him, although immigration officials stamped his documents without issues, police officers later demanded money before allowing him to continue his journey.

“Nothing prepared me for the trauma I went through in the hands of the police officers in Burkina Faso,” Ike-Chima said. “I was legally stamped into the country, yet they insisted I must pay before I could continue my journey.”

The journalist said his onward trip to Ouagadougou, the Burkinabé capital, was marred by harassment and extortion at multiple police checkpoints.

“From the border to Ouagadougou, I counted over 20 police checkpoints. At each stop, passengers were forced to disembark, passports collected, and money demanded before documents were returned,” he recounted.

At one checkpoint, officers allegedly demanded CFA5,000 (about N15,000). When he refused, he was detained for nearly an hour. “They insisted it was either I paid or missed the bus I had paid CFA30,000 (N80,000) for. After my driver intervened, they reluctantly released me, but only after collecting CFA2,000 (N6,000),” he said.

READ ALSO: U.S moves to scrap open-ended U.S. visa stays for students, journalists, exchange visitors

Ike-Chima said he presented a signed official letter from his Nigerian office to border authorities, explaining that his mission was professional and not tourism-related.

“If I start paying bribes at every checkpoint, the essence of my investigation will be defeated,” he added.

It is unclear whether the police actions were officially sanctioned. Some government officials in Ouagadougou, who spoke anonymously, told Ike-Chima that the Burkinabé Head of State strongly disapproves of bribery and corruption by security agencies.

His ordeal underscores persistent concerns about corruption and extortion along West Africa’s transport corridors — a long-standing problem that experts say hampers trade and discourages investment.

Only recently, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs raised alarm over the steep decline in intra-West African trade, citing corruption and border inefficiencies as key obstacles to economic integration within the region.