Lagos police and Oshodi hoodlums

A couple of days back, an incident left me very angry and traumatised.  I was coming back from work, and there was heavy traffic, right in front of me at Oshodi; a group of three young men in their 20’s attacked a man in front of me.

The man struggled with them for some time, he swerved to the other side of the road, yet these guys followed him, determined to rob him.  Eventually one of the miscreants went to the other side, smashed the side window of the passenger seat, took the man’s iPad while the other two also smashed the driver’s window and took the man’s phone and wallet.

What really irked me was the cool way they went about it despite all our shouting as if it is their right to have those items and yet nobody had the nerves to intervene.  I prayed a police man would just show up, I also wished I had a gun; I would have shot them, at least to maim them.

I think it is now pertinent to always drive with some, and if possible, please have a weapon with you.

I couldn’t sleep last night because it could have been any one in that man’s shoes.

This is not the first time, I had almost been a victim last year and the next day, a woman was attacked in my front. I have seen a couple of such attacks but this last attack left a lasting impression, I kept seeing how they swooped on that man.

But I thought the police had succeeded in tackling the menace but this experience is a new level. They took their time and nobody could stop them.

I eventually levelled up with him and suggested he made a report to the police stationed nearby for that matter for possible documentation but he brushed my suggestion aside, that nothing would change.

I think a lot of crimes go unreported and I think the police don’t even have a fair idea about the quantum of crime committed every day. Most people would rather bear the brunt than seek justice, and the police are not even helping matters, as the apparent shabby way most victims of these violent crimes are treated really discourages would-be complainants.

When I shared the experience on my Facebook wall, many of my friends  either confirmed that they had been harassed  or witnessed the miscreants harass someone; only one person said he was almost attacked but for the timely intervention of plain-clothes-police; when I asked him what the plain clothes police did, he said they just scared them away. You see, scaring them away won’t solve the problem, they will only go and come back with greater ferocity.  Why couldn’t they arrest them?

My aunt was once attacked at Mile 2; according to her, she had witnessed such an attack on several occasions but never knew one day it would be her turn. Her attack was similar to the one I witnessed at Oshodi, both side windows were smashed but why hers was peculiar was that the earrings she wore was yanked off from her earring holes, while her necklace was also yanked off .

I feel the police may be culpable because this is a minor crime to solve.

All they need do is to set up a number of baits like a woman driving alone and making calls, since they usually attack women driving alone; they can do this periodically with different kinds of baits. While they take positions around the woman and wait for any attack. Another way is to raid those hawkers; I am sure those hawkers know them and will squeal if arrested and threatened.

We obviously can’t go on like this. I am certain they are armed and won’t hesitate to shoot if anyone had dared intervene. I am using this medium to call upon the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, to rise to the occasion because these criminals will eventually grow to become the likes of Godogodo, Vampire etc.

• Okeke Afam, Ikoyi, Lagos.

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Lagos police and Oshodi hoodlums

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