Bribery or Bullets: The Choice a Young Bolt Driver Faced in Owerri,Imo State

Have you ever stared death in the face,not because you committed a crime, but simply because you were trying to make ends meet?

This is Emmanuel Godwin’s story. A Bolt driver in Owerri, Imo State. 

A hardworking Nigerian youth, one of the countless young men who have refused to go into crime, who’ve chosen to sweat rather than scam, who rise every morning with hope in their hearts and a steering wheel in their hands.

On the night of April 3rd, 2025, around 8:02 p.m., at the Chukwuma Nwaoha roundabout in Owerri, Emma’s only crime was not having cash on him. That’s it.

Stopped by a Nigerian Army officer allegedly attached to the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Emmanuel was asked to "find money" a coded phrase for “bribe me or face trouble.”

 But Emma had no cash. As an Uber/Bolt driver, he explained that he could make a transfer instead. But the soldier refused.

Apparently, he wasn’t in the mood for mobile banking, he wanted raw cash.

Emma tried to reason with him, to show that he was just a working man doing an honest job. 

But dignity means nothing when the one with the gun decides he’s already figured you out.

To that soldier, Emma wasn’t a Bolt driver, he was a "Yahoo boy" who needed to be squeezed.

When Emma and his passenger stepped out of the car to ask what exactly they did wrong, they were dismissed.

Told to leave. And so, they got back into the vehicle and drove off. 

But what happened next is the stuff of nightmares.

A loud gunshot shattered the night.

Emma had been shot at, from behind. A soldier. A uniformed man who swore an oath to protect Nigeria and its people, pulled the trigger on a young man who was simply trying to survive. 

The bullet shattered the windshield. By sheer divine intervention, it missed his head by inches. Inches.

If he hadn’t instinctively moved, this blog post would’ve been his obituary.

Emma later reached out to the Nigerian Army at the Obinze Division. They took his name. His number. His address. And told him to “thank his God the bullet didn’t kill him.”

That’s it.

No arrest. No disciplinary action. No justice.

It’s now been days, and not a single word from the Nigerian Army. 

No apology. No press release. No effort to hold the trigger-happy soldier accountable.

This is not just Emmanuel’s story. It’s the story of a nation where the uniform protects criminals and threatens the innocent.

It’s the story of how state-sanctioned brutality thrives when there is no accountability. It's a reminder that in Nigeria today, survival is no longer about hard work, it’s about luck.

What if Emmanuel died that night? What if that bullet tore through his skull? What if a car behind him rammed into his vehicle in panic? What if?

We are not just asking for justice. We are screaming for it.

This country cannot continue to bury its future because of men with guns and no conscience. 

Emmanuel survived, but how many didn’t?

How many parents buried their children because someone in uniform decided to play God?

We need answers. We need action. We need justice.

And we won’t stop asking what if until this madness ends.

#StopmilitarybrutalityinImo #securelivesandproperties #JusticeforEmma #Imostategovernment