Unless drastic measures are implemented by the authorities to tackle increased banditry, burglary, traffic robbery, kidnapping, rape, carjacking and Okada (motorcycle)-assisted crime in Lagos and some Nigerian states, the signs are that crime will hit an unprecedented level in the near future.
Following the rapid increase in crime recorded in successive weeks in the country, particularly in Lagos, political economists are theorising that the recent mass sacking of labour, which further compounds the problem of unemployment in the country, is partly to blame for the recent increase in crime.
NAIJ.com’s investigation found that in Lagos, for instance, after a hard day’s work motorists plying the Mile 2 route now have to cope with the perpetual fear of daily traffic robbery coupled with the anxiety of driving through the Mile 2 traffic for longer hours.
Many motorists who are aware of the robberies have switched to alternative routes, while others not aware of the threat have found out too late, after they became victims of traffic robbery.
Investigation also shows that home invasions remain a serious threat in the country, with armed robbers entering even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, by following in residents or visitors, or by subduing guards. Armed robbers in Lagos have invaded waterfront compounds by boat to rob banks and residents in Lagos, with no arrests made.
Last Thursday, five armed robbery incidents were recorded in Festac/rainbow axis, towards the Oshodi-Expressway end of the road, with a journalist being one of the victims. Similarly, two other colleagues were robbed of their phones and other reporters’ gadgets on the same day and in the same area.
Before these robberies, another colleague had her new car broken into where it was parked at her residence in Lekki Phase, Lagos, and items belonging to her stolen.
It is a daily experience now to hear Nigerians complaining on radio or television, or on social media, about how they lost valuables to the various robbery tactics currently being employed by criminals, without any police response.
There are numerous eyewitness accounts of unsuspecting motorists in traffic being robbed right inside their cars as hoodlums forced the doors, got inside the car and stole items including money from their victims.
The threat is said to be worst when a motorist is driving alone. Such motorists are the prime target of these bandits. Once they are able to gain access to the car through professional burgling, within a few minutes they are done collecting whatever they wanted and disappear into the evening.
File picture of the Ikorodu bank robbers
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Victims’ experiences
One victim of a Mile 2 traffic robbery who did not want his name in print, said that he was in his car driving opposite Ogofure Motors in Mile 2, coming to Festac at about 9pm in traffic on a recent Tuesday, when some armed boys approached from the driver’s side, broke the whole of the side glass and started tearing his suit and asking for money. He said that the bandits took the phones and bags of two other colleagues of his who were in the car with him.
“They smashed the screen and a broken spectacle entered my eyes. They took my medicated glasses. The windscreen and the shield were destroyed. I have to repair the car; and this would cost about N200,000 to fix. This is not encouraging at all. The criminals were four in numbers, short guys probably in their mid to late twenties,” he said in frustration.
Shola Popoola, another motorist who drives the route daily, said he had been the victim of hoodlums near Mile 2 underbridge, and that he still finds it hard to believe how his Toyota Camry car was unlocked by the criminals the day he was robbed.
“I still believe my car was opened that fateful day with car remote controller. I tried as much as possible to ensure that my car is always locked with its central lock, which I did that day. Before I knew what was going on, two fiercely looking guys were already inside my car; one sitting by the passenger’s seat and the other sitting behind me. They entered in such a way that watchers would have thought we were together and that they probably would have gone down earlier to buy something,” he told NAIJ.com.
He said while he wondered if he had forgotten to central lock the doors before leaving the office, he also initially thought that the bandits probably knew him somewhere and wanted a ride, until a gun was cocked behind him by the criminal sitting in the back while the other man told him Shola not to do anything funny.
“They told me ‘we won’t hurt you only if you respect yourself’. They asked me to smile back at them as if we were friends. They were smiling comfortably as I was being robbed of my belongings. It was between 7:30 to 8:00pm. My ipad and Blackberry were the first casualties. Thank God I didn’t have much money with me in the car that day. They immediately removed the N11,000 I had in my wallet. It took them like three minutes. Mile 2 is a very porous area. People just need to be very careful,” Shola said.
Another motorist, Abosede Makinde, a nursing mother who also drives the route and has been a victim of the Mile 2 traffic criminality, said her experience has led her to avoid the route once traffic gets too serious and night is falling. She said that the day she was robbed her 13-month-old baby Eniola was in the car with her.
The suspects were arrested for allegedly supplying weapons and ammunition to armed robbers. Phot credits: the Punch
“My baby was on board when the man entered my car,” she said. “I was afraid that he might harm my baby so I pleaded with him to take my phones and the little money with me. My entire plea for him to return my SIM cards fell on deaf ears as he walked away amidst several cars in the traffic with my bag.”
The situation in terms of crime is similar across Lagos metropolis and in many Nigerian states. Blessing Taiwo, a resident of Ibeju/Lekki, in Lagos, told the author how her house was burgled during the day and her Samsung 55-inch television stolen.
“I left home that day around 10am and came back by 4pm. I should have returned earlier but because it rained, I stayed longer than I had planned to return. But when I entered my house I discovered that the TV was not on the wall where it was hung and the door to the room was burgled. The person who did the job certainly knows about my house and my movement. They came in through the roof to the bedroom, and then break the door to the parlour, took the extra key in the drawer and went with the TV and my laptop. They scattered the whole house obviously looking for money. Fortunately for me, I had no money in the house that day,” she said.
She explained that her situation was made worse by lack of a police station or post to which to report the crime immediately. She went to report the robbery at the Ajah police post, only to be referred to Ogonbo. She was told that although Ajah is nearer to her home, it was not within their jurisdiction.
“Ogonbo is about 40 minutes drive from my place without traffic. I managed to reach there and make a report of the robbery. The lady police that took my statement could not immediately come with me because she was the only one in the section. Eventually someone came to relief her and we came in my car.
“So, she did some checking and found the slipper of one of the criminals. I could not continue with the case again because the station was too far; coupled with the fact that I was already spending money. I was responsible for the transport fair of the policewoman. That was part of the agreement before she agreed to come with me,” she said.
Mrs Taiwo’s claims about the lack of police posts in the area were confirmed by a further investigation which revealed that there is not a single police station or post on the axis starting from Abraham Adesanya Estate/Lagos Business School (LBS) to Elemoro, an area of over 10 kilometres which includes banks, shopping malls and other businesses. The last police outpost is in Ajunwe, Ajah, and there is an abandoned post in Lakowe, about two kilometres away.
With the population of Ibeju-Lekki unofficially estimated at over 15 million residents, a figure that is expected to increase following the proposed Lekki Free Trade Zone, and with a Dangote refinery expected to open up the area to more businesses, criminals in the area are taking advantage of the current security lacuna. The same applies to many other Nigerian communities.
Deborah Otunomhen, a Benin resident, told the author that her house was burgled recently and her phones, laptop and other valuables were stolen, and that the number of criminal offences in the community had drastically increased in recent weeks. She blamed the increase on job losses and acute unemployment.
Sources at telecom offices also confided with NAIJ.com that there has been a recent increase in subscribers coming for SIM replacements, with the majority of them having had phones stolen either by house burgling or by robbery at gunpoint.
Also on the rise, particularly in Lagos, are cases of the now-famous ‘one chance’ crimes, in which criminals disguised as commercial bus operators take their captives to secluded areas where victims are robbed and beaten before being abandoned.
Economic woes result in criminality
Femi Oladapo, a political economist, said in an interview with NAIJ.com that crime in the country may worsen if the federal government does not take urgent steps to address unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
According to him, Nigeria’s worsening economic situation, created by long term uncertainty over government policies, has contributed largely to unemployment and the resultant lack of income. He said those with money are not ready to invest amid economic uncertainty.
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He said: “I saw this coming; because when there is already acute unemployment and you add the recent mass sack of workers by banks and others who are not able to cope following our precarious situation. Crime may get worst in the coming days unless government create jobs and tackle youths’ restiveness. Crime is every high in the country because the people working are few. From the Niger Delta to the north east, it is all about employment and youths’ restiveness and until we engage our youth in meaningful activities we are not going anywhere in crime fighting.”
He said the truth is that the crime rate in any country is directly tied to the level of poverty of the people, and that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is high, with thousands of graduates leaving school without hope of getting a decent job.
“And social services are not available to those without jobs. And millions of people watch as corrupt leaders loot the country’s treasury. This compounds the problems of the poor and unemployed. And many of these ones turn to crime as a way to make ends meet or in defiance of the society that have failed to provide their basic needs,” he said.
File picture of suspects with the items recovered from them.
Oladapo said that explaining the reasons for the increase in the crime rate in Nigeria is not meant to justify the actions of armed robbers, pickpockets and shoplifters. Rather, he claimed to be merely highlighting the fact that things are worse than they used to be and giving the reason for it.
Police authorities were not immediately available for comment. Olabisi Kolawole said she no longer speaks for the police and promised to send the number of her successor. She had yet to send the number at the time of filing this report.
But a senior officer at the Lagos command of the Nigerian police, who did want his name mentioned because he is not authorised to speak to the media, told NAIJ.com by telephone that the command was aware of the traffic robberies in Mile 2.
However, he disagreed with the claim by some motorists that traffic robberies in the area have increased in recent times, and blamed the crimes partly on the construction work going on in the area.
He advised motorists, especially those plying the Mile 2 route, to call the police emergency numbers 07055350249, 07035068242 or 08065154338, adding that people should be observant.
“They should be watchful for suspicious movements. Before the criminals would strike they must have done some kind of surveillance that would have given them some level of confidence; and if you are watchful, you would see what would be enough for you to even alert the police. I wonder why some people immediately they enter their cars, they would put on music, some would be playing games with their laptops, ipads and phones and they would be very engaged with it and forget about the fact that they are on the road,” he pointed out.
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