Bribe or miss your bus: Nigerian journalist faces harassment in Burkina Faso

Desmond Ike-Chima, a Nigerian journalist and travel YouTuber, was briefly detained by police in Burkina Faso after allegedly refusing to pay a bribe at a checkpoint.

The incident occurred during his ongoing overland journey across 16 West African countries under a self-funded project titled “Project Travel Africa.”

The aim of the project is to document the ease and challenges of doing business and traveling across West African borders. But Ike-Chima’s experience at the Cinkansé border, between Togo and Burkina Faso, underscores the persistent challenge of corruption in the region’s transport corridors.

“Nothing prepared me for the trauma I went through in the hands of the police officers in Burkina Faso,” Ike-Chima told Vanguard.

According to him, although immigration officers at the border acted professionally, he encountered a series of corrupt demands from local police after being stamped into the country legally.

“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.”

Ike-Chima said the officers at one checkpoint demanded CFA5,000 (approximately ₦15,000). When he refused to comply, he was detained for nearly an hour. Despite presenting an official letter from his Nigerian media office stating the professional nature of his journey, the officers insisted on payment.

“They said I must pay or risk missing the bus I had already paid CFA30,000 (about ₦80,000) for. After my driver intervened, they let me go—but only after collecting CFA2,000 (₦6,000),” he said.

The journalist emphasized that complying with bribe demands would undermine the credibility of his investigation.

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

While it is unclear whether such actions are sanctioned by higher authorities, some anonymous officials in Ouagadougou reportedly told Ike-Chima that the Burkinabé Head of State strongly opposes corruption within security agencies.