Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, has given marching orders to his area commanders and divisional police officers (DPOs) to clear off hoodlums who accost innocent commuters and brazenly seize their phones in the public in exchange for money, their areas of jurisdiction. Fayoade, who was reacting to viral videos of the new face of crime in the state, warned that he would not spare any of the police officers who allows such acts to continue in the state.

Spokesperson of the state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin said : “CP Adegoke Fayoade has received with concern reports that young men in certain parts of Lagos State seize passersby’s phones to extort them despite the sustained raids being carried out by officers and men of the command.’’

The new style of robbery is reminiscent of the practice in the state in the 1970s by thieves who would accost people wearing expensive necklaces and ask such victims to remove the necklaces on their necks and put them on their own (the thieves) necks all by themselves, with prayers, to boot (bo si mi lorun ko s’adura si).

It was these nasty experiences that taught Lagosians who were fond of ostentatious display of clothes and jewelries to check such habit. Even if they attended social parties in glittering attires, they took along extra clothes with which they replaced the ones they wore to the party, when leaving. They equally removed their gold necklaces and hid them in their bags, so as not to draw unnecessary attention to themselves and thus made themselves less vulnerable to attacks by the thieves of that era.

There were no cellphones then.

But one of the solutions devised by Lagosians then can still work these days of cell phones. What people did then with their expensive clothes and jewelries that attracted undue attention to them is what some people do today with their cell phones that they flagrantly display in public. Most of the victims of these phone snatchers engage in reckless display of such phones as a status symbol, thus attracting the attention of the miscreants.

This attitude must stop.

Even when people have the means to genuinely buy such expensive handsets, they should sparingly display them in public. People have to be conscious of their environment. Even the police, as part of their security advisory usually urge members of the public not to display objects of value in their cars or wherever such things could attract the attention of hoodlums.

Life has no duplicate; hence, it is better to heed such a piece of advice. Some of these thieves are so desperate that they can kill when their potential victims become stubborn or ‘uncooperative’.

We call on the police in the state to continue with sting operations to mop up these criminal elements from the society. The police, no doubt, are trying but they need to do more.

Lagosians too must be ready to provide the police with useful information that can help them in apprehending these thieves. The police would always appreciate this. Policemen are no super humans; they most often work on credible intelligence from members of the public, and this has often paid off. The source of such intelligence should not be allowed to dry. And the way to ensure the source does not dry is in the police treating the information provided them by members of the public with absolute confidentiality.

We support Mr Fayoade’s warning that area commanders and DPOs in whose jurisdictions these new robbery style and other crimes fester should be heavily sanctioned. That is the way to put them on their toes and make Lagosians walk as free-born on the streets, without having to fear that some people are lurking around to dispossess them of their valuables.

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