Lagos – A Sad Welcome To The Centre Of Excellence

Lagos – A Sad Welcome –It is one day that the 22-year-old lady would remember for the rest of her life.  It was supposed to be a jolly fun ride with a cherished friend to school, but it turned out to be a day of sad experience, a nightmare in broad daylight.

All through the walk from the Ikeja underbridge, towards the park for the Ogba-bound Keke (tricycle), they were full of laughter and excitement from their engaging banter, oblivious that a singular incident would change all that cheer in a moment.

No sooner had they taken their seats inside the Keke than the driver began to ask passengers to pay up. Enthusiastically, she began to reach for her backpack to take out the transport fare. That was when it dawned on her: the purse was not where she had left it, meaning that her phone, an iPhone XR, had also gone.

Till today, the victim, Janet Omoyajowo, feels bitter any time she remembers that incident.

In the case of a 27-year-old entrepreneur and single mother, Idara John, it happened at the Iyana-ipaja bus stop with her two-year-old daughter fast asleep wrapped to her back.

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The sun was scorching and she was thirsty for water and also eager to get home fast so she could start preparing lunch. While she stood, it never crossed her mind that something horrible would happen that would darken her bright sunny Sunday afternoon.

It was shockingly fast as her handbag was snatched by a thief on a bike. She tried to chase after the bike but she was not fast enough due to the weight of her daughter

In Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, “the fear of pickpockets is actually the beginning of wisdom”. Unfortunately, Akintola Opeyemi Racheal, just like the previous examples, lacked that wisdom.

She went to Agege to purchase a product for her customer, only to begin to search desperately for her purse when it was time to pay for the items.

This is the case of Mary Adebayo, who was neither at the bus stop nor marketplace when she fell victim of this heinous crime. She was at a praise concert, the Experience. She had her bag clutched to herself all through her stay at the event. Despite how cautious she thought she was, the criminals still carried out their work with remarkable speed and deftness. she only realized when she was set to leave that the criminals had emptied her handbag without her knowledge. The pickpockets had gone away with her ATM card, phone and purse. With no money to go home and so she had to do what she never thought she would do; Beg! beg passersby for money to transport herself home.

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The centre of excellence, Lagos state is plagued with many security challenges. Recently, the state was ranked the most dangerous city to live in, in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and in 2016, the state was reported to have the highest crime rate in Nigeria by the National Bureau of statistics (NBS).

The streets, bus stops, schools, commercial vehicles, places of worship, markets and every nook and cranny of this state is not safe as petty crime rules supreme. Busy markets such as Balogun, Mile 12, Idumota, Aswani, Alaba, Tejuosho, Agege, Oshodi and Computer Village are dwelling grounds for perpetrators of this crime.

Pickpocket and bag snatching is so rampant in the state that when one falls victim to any of these it is referred to as a welcome.

I was there with my friend, Janet Omoyajowo when she lost her valuables to pickpockets at the Ikeja underbridge. I remember watching my friend jumping out of the Keke screaming, crying and shouting. I can still recall her shaking frantically.

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She held my clothes and yelled my name and the name of the one she served continuously.  The noise she was making attracted the attention of lots of people and everyone who dared to comfort her all repeated the same words, “take heart, my dear, this is Lagos, WELCOME TO LAGOS”.