Rising insecurity, violent crimes in Lagos as lockdown takes a toll

Residents are now barricading streets and organising community vigilantes’ groups in response to rising spate of criminality in some parts of Lagos as security agencies appear in denial at best and helpless at worse.

In areas like Iyana Ipaja, Abule Egba, Command and Miran, robbers are raiding houses and looting shops as the lockdown ordered by Muhammadu Buhari on… shuts down economic activities and compounds hardship on millions of people especially those in the informal economy who constitute nearly 60 percent of the economy.

“Please inform Governor Sanwolu that people living in the following areas cannot sleep and have no peace because of rubbery attacks: Ijaye, Abule Egba, Miran, Command, Iyana ipaja, Aboru. Robbers now operate from house to houses every day even in broad daylight,” a social media user said on Twitter.

Curating the views of Nigerians on social media and the reports of our correspondents in various parts of Lagos, BusinessDay has received reports of robberies and violent crimes in the following areas: Somolu, Abule Egba, Ijaiye, Miran, Iyana Ipaja, Ikorodu, Agege, Ajah, and ijora.

Around 2 am within the environs of Agege and Pen Cinema on Monday, the voice of a female resident who was calling for help through a video posted on Twitter at the time of occurrence said they were over 100 street urchins roaming the streets and causing havoc.

“We are no more safe in Agege-Okekpoto, Agunbiade from Pencinema. We beg you, please come and help us. We’ve called the police, for the past one hour, they said they are on their way [but] we’re not hearing any siren, nobody is showing up,” she cried.

“What kind of country is this!? You people are isolating us [and] you’re not doing anything…our lives are no more secured. People are hungry. These boys have entered, they’re over 100 of them. Please come and help us. They’ve been attacking for over one hour. They came enmass. Please help us, we beg you,” she wailed.

Seun Adeogun, a resident of Abule-Egba joined his fellow youths to keep a vigil on the community on Sunday after a robbery attack two days earlier at Agbe Road, a link between the popular suburb, Ahmadiyya and Abule-Egba.

“We just started hearing a noise that they (robbers) are around. Before we knew what was happening, there were already gunshots. They entered some buildings, raped some ladies, and forced open some food items shops. They were after food, money and whatever they could get,” Adeogun explained in a phone conversation.

“We had to put ourselves together as youths because we were not sure the police would come on time. We may have to defend ourselves. We have been on red alert just to make sure that they don’t come in to attack us.”

While some of the robbers escaped, he said two were caught, and beaten before being handed over to the police.

But the Police have insisted that there has been no unrest in the state as claimed on the social media, pointing out that most of the alarms raised Saturday turned out to be false.

Following many of such reports, the police had deployed its special anti-robbery squad (SARS) across Lagos over the weekend, Bala Elkana, the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) told BusinessDay.

Elkana said the force deployed its tactical unit all over Lagos. The units including the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), special task-force on social miscreants and the anti-cultism team was activated on Saturday night with operatives spread all over.

“They are out patrolling the length and breadth of Lagos to deal decisively with hoodlums who want to take advantage of this lockdown to steal or loot. We are battle-ready. We don’t have unrest in Lagos. It is the wrong word to use. These have been happening and we have dealt with it in the past. There is nothing new,” he said.

“We got a lot of calls via social media messages, tweet that armed robbers were knocking house to house. We have our patrol teams on the streets to keep on moving into those locations,”  Elkana, the PPRO said Monday in a telephone call.

According to him, some communities under Ogun state have been experiencing clashes among cultists in the last five days and a lot of the events there are being misrepresented as those from Lagos.

At the same time, he admitted that some of them have moved into Lagos, with miscreants already within Lagos also going on a rampage, taking advantage of the lockdown. But the force has been responding with over 70 suspects arrested as of Sunday, across the state from places including Apapa and Ilaje, Ajah.

Meanwhile, Nigerians continue to share videos and pictures that purports to indicate that they are being attacked. A BusinessDay editor on his way home on Thursday was attacked by hoodlums around Orile.

Critics have described the attacks as the downside of the stay-at-home, arguing that it is only a matter time before the unemployed and people who earn meagre income on a daily basis reach their limit and begin to explore alternatives harmful to other members of the public.

By Monday night, the 14-day lockdown imposed by Buhari would lapse, but the president has further directed that the economy remains closed until medical experts say it is all right to reopen it.

In an Easter message to Christians on Sunday, President Buhari reiterated the need for the lockdown to continue since there is currently no known vaccine against the virus. The best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected, he said is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.

“I am very much aware of the personal and collective inconveniences suffered by our people due to measures such as restriction of movements and closure of business premises. Being ‘a matter of life and death,’ these sacrifices are in everybody’s interest to save our country from calamity,” he said.

“The welfare of our people is paramount. Accordingly, the most economically vulnerable in our communities will continue to be uppermost in our plans, and efforts will be made to supply them with basic means of survival.”

All over the world, countries are facing the same dilemma. President Donald Trump of the United States had previously said he would open the economy around the Easter holidays but rising cases of the coronavirus pandemic in the country forced him to change his mind.

Nigeria now has 323 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Eighty-five people have been discharged while 10 people have died.

ISAAC ANYAOGU, TEMITAYO AYETOTO, DESMOND OKON