As development evolves, people change behaviorally to adapt to every situation. Could that be why our elders who see into the future say that “It is condition that made the crayfish to bend.”
Truly, crayfish, which is a small animal that lives in rivers and is similar to a lobster, bends when it comes closer to heat or fire. The difference here is that thousands of Nigerian youths that stray into the federal capital city imbibe negative behaviours when conditions become hard and unbearable to them; they embrace criminal activities. These criminal behaviours have further heightened the rate of criminality around the Federal Capital Territory over the years. This trend started rearing its ugly head when the government allowed unlicensed taxi cabs free assess to the streets of Abuja from the suburbs without providing good transportation system. Meanwhile, vehicle inspection officers who ought to regulate the nuisance of these cab drivers looked the other way, until Abuja residents flooded police stations with crime reports about dangerous criminals behind the wheels. When it first started, many did not regard the sad stories as serious narrations, until many more started falling into their traps and it dawned on security agencies to put on their thinking caps to find a solution to the menace. Before our eyes, families started going to church to give testimonies on how God delivered them from the hands of these criminals behind the ‘One Chance’ operations. This is how the criminals operate. The driver, who is the main crime leader, would pick a saloon car with no noticeable identification, no inscription as ‘Taxi’ on the vehicle. Most times, the other members of the gang are stationed along the stretch of the road and they would flag down the vehicle as if they are innocent passengers. As the vehicle plies along the road, which is made more easier because all commercial and administrative activities are concentrated in the city centre, there are long stretches dividing the Federal Capital, making it possible for passengers to describe their journey as “Along” and sequel to this situation, such long journies are aptly described as A-L-O-N-G. It was the Along journey that eventually attracted the criminals, who are mostly unemployed youths, and this became known as ‘One Chance.’ Once a passager boards the taxi and informs the driver of where he or she intends to alight, the driver would then signal his co-criminals who would flag down the vehicle and, before another passenger enters, all members of the gang are already seated as passengers and immediately they would command the driver as if he is not one of them. Passengers are immediately ordered to surrender their belongings, including cellphones and other valuables. Each gang member is well positioned and seated by the doors at the back to prevent any escape, as the passengers are made to sit in between the criminals who would disclose their weapons as the operation commences. While the criminal seated next to the driver brings out his POS machine, the man or lady member of the gang is responsible for searching the phones of the innocent passengers and their bags and pockets for their ATM cards for easy transfer, while the driver pretends that he is also being robbed.
In fact, the driver who turns out to be the bank where all the loots are kept would drive to isolated areas to avoid prying eyes of passers-by along the road and of those in other moving vehicles. Torture is introduced where victims are rude, uncooperative either by concealing information of their bank password or other information that may be hindering their operations. Many victims have been shot dead or pushed out of the moving vehicle, while many other victims regret passing through such unpalatable experience. ‘One chance’ is a hellish journey within the city metropolis. Oftentimes, it is a journey of no return. ‘One chance’ is an experience no one wants to have while living and working in the federal capital. Impressively the long arms of the law had over the years been catching up with these hardened criminals who continue to increase due to the nonchalant attitude of previous governments in the federal capital city. One had expected that the suburbs would have been flooded with factories while the city centre would be dominated by government offices and other administrative locations. Movement from the city centre to subburbs would only be by urban transport, metro trains and private vehicles.
Unfortunately, the government’s promise of free buses is yet to matralise to curb the activities of One chance criminals. Metro trains and buses should be introduced from Gwagwalada to Maraba; such city link transportation will definitely curb ‘One chance’ criminality. Meanwhile the security agencies have increased there tempo of protecting innocent cizitens in recent timse in the Federal Capital Territory.
The duty of the police, constitutionally, is to curb and stop the activities of criminals and protect the people. Since the introduction of this criminal activity in Abuja in 2003, various police commissioners in charge of the FCT had devised different strategies to curb the menace of these criminals. One of the most outstanding was that of former commissioner of police, Mr. Lawrence Alobi, who devised a method whereby young policemen and women attached to the Criminal Investigations Department were drafted to strategic points along the roads where the One chance criminals operated. CP Alobi armed this plainclothes police officers with loaded pistols and positioned them along the road where the criminals operated. When they hear the driver call for passengers “Along-Along” these armed plainclothes officers would flag down the vehicle and pretend to be passengers, unfortunately, should the criminals attempt to disposes other passengers of their propertiesm then the armed policemen would disarm and arrest the criminals. Alobi’s method helped in curbing the activities of these criminals throughout his tenure as commissioner of police. But immediately after Alobi’s exit, other police commissioner’s approach did not yield desirable results until the recent posting of CP Bennett Igwe, a former head of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
His exploits have gladdened the hearts and increased the hope of many residents in the battle against criminals operating in the FCT. His recent exploits have finally nailed the coffin of ‘One chance’ criminals in the FCT.
As I write this column at 7:45pm, Saturday, June 8, 2024, I put a call across to Commissioner Igwe, who told me, “I wouldn’t have picked the call because I am in the bush fighting criminals.” No wonder bandits and other criminals are exiting from FCT, thereby announcing the climax of ‘One chance’ operation in Abuja.
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Security Hints
Avoid vehicles without number plates.
When you enter a vehicle and the passenger that is already seated refuses to shift and prefers to sit by the doorside and rather steps down from the vehicle so that you can sit in the middle, decline to board the vehicle.
Avoid vehicles with number plate only at the front and none at the back.
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Security File congratulates all the 124 newly promoted police officers that were elevated to new ranks for the betterment and uplifting of the Nigeria Police Force.