…Adulterated products flood market
… ‘One chance’ on the increase
…Security agencies assure of safety
Yesterday, hell broke loose at Cele bus stop, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos, when a commercial bus driver almost lynched a tout for discharging his passengers.
The driver’s offence was that he refused to pay the loading fee, which tripled since December 1, including security levy for the police.
“Oga, na Christmas hustle we dey; if you no pay, no carry passenger here. If you come again, police go arrest you,” the tout insisted after other drivers came to rescue the situation.
In the spirit of Christmas hustle, the embattled driver resorted to offering a free ride to a soldier and doubled the fare on ground that he was taking one-way because of the heavy traffic.
Also, at Apo Mechanic Village in Abuja, a motor electrician, popularly called rewire and a battery seller are in police net for selling a refurbished battery as a new one. The buyer, an unsuspecting car owner, was disappointed that a trusted rewire of over five years’ relationship could do that in the name of raising money for Christmas travel and expenses.
“How can I pay N85,000 for a new battery that lasted for only two weeks and people say I should not arrest the thieves?” the angry car owner asked rhetorically.
Many housewives are also complaining of the quality of cooking oil in the market as many adulterated versions of popular brands are now commonplace, especially since the beginning of December as some unscrupulous people are flooding the market with adulterated, unhealthy and yet, expensive cooking oil to make quick money.
“It is not only the price of petrol that is increasing every day, we cannot buy ‘ororo’ again. Sellers are increasing their prices now so that people will not think that the cheap one is adulterated. It is also difficult to know the fake ones, but the sellers know and will even convince you that they are the best,” Ebun Fadahunsi, popularly called Iya Adisa, a local food restaurant owner, lamented.
She decried further that the unscrupulous merchants are taking advantage of the high demand for cooking oil during festive season to push their adulterated products in the market, conniving with greedy dealers, who are “people we know and trusted”.
“This is Christmas and many people think they must make all the money they have not made since January. They don’t care how, who they cheat to make it or who suffers afterwards,” she noted.
Obviously, each year, as the Christmas and New Year festivities approach, there seems to be a rush by many people to rake in more money, even through untoward means.
The manner in which many go about the festive season profiteering as if the world is going to end after the season, is giving grave concerns as well.
Meanwhile, people who are servicing their vehicles for festive travels are already feeling the impact as motor mechanics, rewire, panel beaters, vulcanizers, and sadly spare parts dealers are cashing in big time.
The routine is usually for the mechanic to call the spare parts dealer to know current prices, then inflate the cost if he is the one buying it or call the dealer to add his commission if the owner is going to buy the parts.
Then, the apprentice will hide small parts like nuts and bolts with the intention to sell back to the car owner, when his master asks him to buy from a nearby shop.
Defending the sharp practice and illegitimate earning, Mutiu Adigun, a senior mechanic, who is fondly called Abe, noted that mechanics are human beings also and need money for Christmas and New Year as most car owners are stingy nowadays.
Read also: Mournful faces everywhere as economy bites with no respite in sight
“People are increasing the price of things they are selling every Christmas; so, we mechanics are also doing the same. This is our season and we need to make money now because people will not bring cars for servicing in January because of school fees and house rent.
“Again, most car owners are stingy and if we don’t play smart, they will even say thank you and go without paying us,” Adigun said.
According to Chika Ikoro, another mechanic, the average mechanic is looked down on by the car owners, hence rush hours like festive seasons present an opportunity to get back at the car owner with high workmanship fees, hiking spare parts money, among other sharp practices.
“Sometime in July, it was raining and my customer’s wife did not allow me to stay in their corridor while servicing their car at home. She said my clothes were dirty. Since then, I have not serviced their car again. I know they will come soon to service for Christmas travel and I will charge them Christmas money. Yes, I will, they have money,” Ikoro said.
In Port Harcourt, a rice merchant was caught while re-bagging supplies he recently got from Lagos and he confessed making additional profit from the criminal act.
He removes half kilo from each full 50 kg bag, which amounts to many kilograms he will later rebag and sell as full bags to unsuspecting customers who don’t care to weigh the bags before buying.
The merchant is not the only culprit, many grain dealers on the streets and major markets across the country do the same, especially during festive season, which comes with high demand for rice.
Away from the unscrupulous commodity dealers, armed robbers and hoodlums are now on rampage than before as they too must end the year, spending big like others.
The dreaded “one-chance” bus swindlers are back on major highways in the country, as the cases of unsuspecting passengers being robbed by these hoodlums have been on increase, especially in Lagos and Abuja, since the last quarter of this year.
In a recent sad case in Abuja on December 2, 2024 around the National Stadium, after collecting valuables, including phones and jewelleries, they forced the passengers to submit their ATM cards and pins, which the hoodlums used on their POS device.
In Lagos, the one-chance hoodlums are deadlier as they push victims off their bus, usually ‘korokpe’, in both successful and unsuccessful cases. Some victims die from falling off the bus, while many who survive, sustain serious injuries.
According to a senior police officer who pleaded for anonymity, the one-chance crime was rampant in Lagos a few years ago, but has resurfaced in bigger dimensions today, and also spreading to Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
“It is all for money. The incidents have also increased since the last quarter of this year because lazy people are looking for money to spend during Christmas and New Year.
“I blame society for being too materialistic and everyone wants a big life, even those who cannot afford it, yet you will blame the police for not doing its job.
“Let’s change our attitude to Christmas, it is a day like others that will pass.
“The rush and things we do in the name of making money, especially now, are not worth the end result,” the officer warned.
Apart from one-chance, phone snatchers are on the prowl nowadays, considering the huge cost of phones in the market today.
In the supermarkets, school, public places, and even inside churches, these hoodlums are after people who will lose their guards and their phones are gone in a moment.
Security personnel in banks and churches have been receiving enough of such complaints from customers and worshippers, with little recovery efforts, especially this festive season as the phones are switched off in a second and hidden by the expert snatchers.
Yet, the incidents of car brain box stealing are also increasing this festive season, especially Toyota Corolla.
“Oga, as a mechanic, to remove the brain box of a car is not easy, but these criminals do it easily. I don’t know where they learnt that skill. They will steal more this Christmas season.
“But the risk is paying off for them because the Toyota Corolla brain box has gone up from N100,000 to N220,000 within a year. The criminals target cars anywhere, even in church premises. I don’t know how they do that without being caught,” Ikoro, a mechanic, said.
Sadly, transport companies are in brisk business now as they increase fares up to 100 percent, taking advantage of the high demand and rush for festive travel.
From between N30,000 to N35,000 in late October and November, fares to most South-East, South-South and Abuja routes are fast increasing to N50,000, and are expected to peak at N70,000 at the heat of the festive season December 20-26.
But most transport companies don’t see the seasonal fare hike as a rip-off, rather as a response to demand and supply pressure.
“Honestly, no transport company has enough buses to carry the huge number of travellers for Christmas due to the unending two-week rush. So, we hike fares to control passengers’ rush,” Chris Ijeh, a GUO Transport terminal manager, said.
After subjecting the buses to frequent return journeys during the festive period, maintenance, which gulps huge funds, according to Ijeh, sets in.
Defending the hike in fares, Kike Olufemi, a route supervisor at a transport company in Jibowu, Lagos, explained that transportation is a business that pays staff salaries, rents, all manner of levies and taxes to the government, and hence fares are charged based on many variables to ensure that the business remains afloat.
“The buses are expensive to buy and import, the cost of spare parts, maintenance and fuel are unbearable and we still pay the drivers and other staff members. So, see us as a normal business that needs money to run and festive season presents an opportunity to make and also spend the money,” she urged.
But most passengers think otherwise, decrying that transport companies are very ungrateful by paying their patronage across the year with a hike in fares during Christmas, when they need them most.
“The transport companies are mean. No incentives and they don’t care because we have limited means of good transportation. They know that flights are out of it for many, and it is more expensive to travel on private cars, hence they are hitting passengers harder across the year with high fares. Forget all the excuses they give,” Anselm Odika, an engineer, lamented.
However, insecurity is one big concern for many who want to celebrate the festive season despite the high cost of food items and transport fares.
Though the police and other security agencies have assured a peaceful celebration across the festive season, many doubt as such assurances did not prevent sad incidents in the past, like the invading of some worship centres and public places by hoodlums on Christmas Day in some parts of the country and kidnapping of passengers.
The government is also promising good outings for people this season as security is going to be beefed up.
Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, governor of Plateau State, while flagging off the Christmas season in his state a few days ago, assured Plateau people that peace has returned and that they should enjoy the season without watching their backs.
But most of the people think that the governor was just trying to score a cheap political goal as the insecurity level in the state is still high.
Some prefer staying in Abuja, which is safer or within Jos metropolis for the festive season, and flying if they can afford it, all for safety this festive season.
For some people from the South-East part of the country, the usual homecoming for Christmas is no longer compulsory as many plan to stay back in the cities, especially Lagos, due to high transport fare, bad roads and security concerns.
“There is no route to the South East that is cheap, flight is out of it. So, it is not compulsory to travel again for Christmas. I am spending the holidays in Lagos and will send money to those in the village to enjoy themselves,” Emeka Ndekwu, a banker, said.
In the same vein, Uche Emeh, a business executive, thinks that one should not risk his life because of the pressure from family members to travel for Christmas as the situations are not encouraging across the board.
“If you cannot travel now, make phone and video calls to connect with your family members. Safety first, you can always travel later,” Emeh admonished.
Despite the above views, many people will be hitting the road, more will even pay for flights no matter how expensive, to travel to their villages this Christmas.
“You cannot forget your root and there are things that are better done in the village. You have to travel home, just put the necessary things in place, including security. But nobody is after you when you live a moderate life,” Kingsley Okwandu, a business owner, said.
Buttressing the above, Ikoro said that there are some of his clients that have travelled home every Christmas in the last six years he met them.
“Oga, whether insecurity, bad road or whatever, I have people who must travel for Christmas every year, especially business people. They bring their cars for servicing and leave when schools vacate,” he noted.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
