Crime Alert In Abuja -By Joe Dauda

I called a friend/business colleague just now and asked him to design something for me. He said he could not do it immediately because his laptop had been stolen.

How? What happened?

My guy said that, about 3 weeks ago, he parked his car at UTC (specifically around Lozumba Plaza where there is a parking space) around 2:30pm. He only left the car for about 15 minutes to do something but, before he returned, his rear passenger glass had been broken and his laptop had been stolen.

I did all the “Oh” “Ah”, “Chai”, “It is well o!” And my friend then added that he believes the robbers work in groups. One of them will monitor you by following you as soon as you park your vehicle. That person’s primary assignment is to alert the others if you start coming back. This means that the others promptly pounce on your car as soon as you park and leave. The problem with this incident is that it was in broad daylight (2:30pm), it was a weekday (Tuesday), and people were around the vicinity. It was certainly not a lonely place.

And then my friend said that, just on Saturday, his own friend was robbed of his phones, some cash, and an expensive wristwatch when his tire got punctured around 7pm by Nicon Junction, with Berger Bridge behind if you are driving on the right. My guess is that some sharp objects may have been dropped on the road. Why else should criminals armed with guns (real or toy) be at that specific location if they had no means of forcing some unfortunate motorist to stop and try to fix their punctured tire? Yes, the two guys that appeared from the nearby bush pointed guns at him while robbing him.

This is not to make anyone unnecessarily scared. Crime is a constant all over the world, especially in large cities. The point is that, if you are like me, you need to stop placing your laptop and other valuables inside the living room of your car. If my friend had simply placed his laptop inside his car boot instead of the seat, his story could have been different. As for the guy that was robbed at Nicon Junction, please keep moving if you feel your tire has lost pressure. Remember, it’s a tubeless tire and you can drive to the nearest petrol station, supermarket, police station, or just some very public place and try to fix it. These days, stopping to fix your tire is no longer a good idea — especially once it has started to get dark. Why? Because you may be in the crosshairs of criminals. Think about this: what if your tire was punctured by something they placed on the road? It means stopping to fix it puts you at their mercy since they must be around the area waiting and hoping for you to do just that.

Someone says heaven helps those who help themselves. There is a lot of sense in that saying and I think we should do our best and leave the rest, whether in terms of personal security or any endeavour in life. Doing your best to stay safe is not a show of lack of faith. It is common sense.

Enjoy the rest of your day.