Recent developments which reflect the destabilized security situation in south-west Nigeria from ritual killings and kidnappings is also getting to the detail of rampant robbery which renders people’s years of sweat, toil and hard work being carted away at gunpoint by unscrupulous elements.
Ibadan, Oyo state has been at the brink of everyday stealing, armed and daylight robberies which has not been getting any better especially because of the nation’s economic downturn, which is making people scream, even to the ears of the president ‘We are hungry’.
Environments which is close to The Polytechnic students’ residential areas like Apete, Awotan Ijokodo etc. all live in fear especially at this time of The Polytechnic exams schedule. This is despite the proximity of these areas to the Sango police barracks.
Lucky residents’ (whose gadgets aren’t taken away) have their WhatsApp statuses getting filled with news of their neighbors and neighborhood being raided by these men of the underworld.
“…Just yesterday’s midnight, Nigeria happened to us again. We are just getting ourself back together FGS. We got robbed again. My husband’s phone got stolen again. The new laptop I bought too was stolen, all the money in our accounts were taken away, our atm cards everything!
“They came with guns, sharp cutlasses. We are just young Nigerians trying to a living in this mess. I have been an active research/academic writer since2019, while my husband has been running a fashion store since2020, it’s not like there’s any plan in place for the common Nigerian”
These are tweets from an X(twitter) user, Adebimpe Azeezat @bimpe_azeezat, who is a mother of an infant and newly admitted Nigeria Law School student who had to lament a two times armed robbery which has happened within 6months.
They reside at the booming Moniya area of Ibadan. Moniya is meant to be the big fish of Ibadan’s real estate because of its proximity to the modern train station. But it is becoming a nightmare for residents because of the rampant robbery and raid of an entire street.
While Azeezat was trying to communicate via the tweet thread, she explained her husband felt defeated and ‘wanted to die’ because he was terrified. This is not a situation anyone could imagine themselves in.
To follow due, she said, “After, the first incident, my husband went to the police station, reported, wrote statement, paid for tracking the devices but all his efforts proved abortive. We went to the police station yesterday morning again and we were asked to write a petition and come back on Monday.”
This is having it at the face of the security agencies of the country, their level of irresponsibility of lives and properties they vowed an oath to protect. People pay the police to make reports, pay to write their statements and even pay to track their stolen devices. This is a gross level of degeneration in our systems which needs a total overhaul.
And so to note, young people of 23-27 years of age live in the era of having different legally creative ways to make a good income. Youths, youngsters are not meant to be profiled and victimized by elders in the communities and especially, the security forces of the country.
“Did I remember to tell you how much landlords in our community victimized us just because we are “young”, no support whatsoever. We are shuttling between staying with friends/our fashion store until I can go back home to my family/law school (both in Lagos).” Azeezat detailed.
Victim blaming at the time of pain, extortion, robbery, vulnerability etc. is not needed for the sake of humanity.
The CSO of Oyo state, Governor Seyi Makinde, is therefore called upon to take action against this level of insecurity in the state.
The commissioner of police, Oyo state command, Adebola Hamzat is also called upon to charge her men to regular patrol of redzone and every other area of the state and the homely city, Ibadan. And also see to free passage of every petition concerning security and lives and properties protection.
