‘Idle hands, devil’s workshop’

Link    Nation Newspaper

Bank robbery and household burglary have become common. The security situation has compelled some governors to acquire Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCS) for the police. But experts say government needs to  reduce the growing army of unemployed youths, writes JOKE KUJENYA

Ikechukwu Onyema, a lawyer and Mr. Ebenezer Peters, a trader at the Alaba International Market have had encounter with armed robbers. Onyema was in a bank when the armed robbers came calling. Police came in on time and saved the situation. For Peters, the fear of armed robbers is the beginning of wisdom. He told The Nation that in his area of residence, Ipaja all able bodied are in vigilance groups to ward off attacks.

Peters said: “We have not been able to sleep. They wrote to the Baale that we have just started and since then, we have not had any respite from them. Now, we can’t sleep. We live in fear because we don’t know whose target it is next. They have been to my street and home during which they came in with a cutlass, used it to hit my wife on her thigh twice and asked her to bring out all the money we had. When they could not get as much as they wanted, they asked me to bring my laptop and threatened to kill me. Yet, I never owned a laptop. When they left my apartment, they went round to each of our neighbours. And we’ve been at it since then. We reported to the Ipaja Police station but I know that they can only do little since the weapons of the burglars are more sophisticated.”

Within the last two years, governors have been procuring Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to curtail the excesses of armed bandits in their respective domains.

Between 2007 and 2011, the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said about 603 policemen were killed by criminals.

The governor spoke during the handing over of security equipment worth millions of naira to the police to aid them combat crime.

At the event where the governor presented 10 APCs, 50 patrol vans, a mobile workshop, 200 bullet proof vests,100 Walkie- Talkies and the 300 newly trained Police drivers to the State Police Command, he noted that the challenges of security and law are a growing threat across the world. 

Fashola said: “The world is increasingly plagued by ideological, religious and economic challenges, and the countries like the United States, Britain, Greece and Italy, which used to act as shock absorbers receiving millions of immigrants are facing grave social and economic problems.”

To stem the tide of crime and robbery in Osun State, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, in October, ordered for five APCs. He also announced that some members of the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) would assist the Police in the discharge of their duties.

Aregbesola said the move was to curb bandits who now openly use explosives and dynamites in the prosecution of their daring raids on banks and residences within the state.

Two weeks prior to the presentation of the APCs to the police, the governor said six banks were raided at Iwo and Ilesa in which several people were injured and millions of naira carted away. A police Inspector, Christopher Atama, was killed at the Iwo robbery.

Robbers in Ondo State recently held residents captive. Banks and other corporate outfits refused to open to customers. 

Governor Olusegun Mimiko procured and delivered three APCs to the police. The  Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the APCs were designed to transport infantry to the battlefield. He said the APCs would bedeployed in strategic locations, especially the Business Districts of Akure and other major towns in the state. He also said the arrival of the equipment and other logistics extended by the government to the various security agencies would eventually make Ondo a no-go-area for armed robbers. 

In Ekiti State,  Governor Kayode Fayemi also donated two APCs to the Police Command as part of measures to fight crimes and secure the life and property of indigenes and investors. During the hand over of the security equipment to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, the governor said the gesture was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the safety of residents.

Like Lagos and other Southwest states, the Delta State, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, also provided APCs to the police. But the governor said his government’s determination was driven by the will to stall militants who refuse to embrace the amnesty granted them by the Federal Government.

The governor spoke in Asaba at the presentation of 35 Toyota Hilux Pick-Up Vans and two APCs.

Uduaghan said his administration was committed to assisting the police in combating crime. He added that they are also assisting the force in gathering information to enhance their job of flushing out criminals, noting that it was the responsibility of the governors to ensure peace and security in their various states.

But good as the efforts of the governors are, many are of the view that the growing army of unemployed youths needs to be curtailed. Analysts said while many are into robbery for greed, idleness can also contribute to it. So, they are asking for more jobs for idle hands.