Residents of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have raised the alarm over the menace of car theft and commercial vehicle robbery or one-chance in the nation’s capital. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports
The seat of federal power is fast losing ground to car thieves and robbers operating in commercial vehicles otherwise known as one-chance. This is a serious worry to residents. Many have fallen victim.
The term ‘One Chance,’ a pidgin English expression used by bus conductors or touts to entice passengers in a hurry to take the last available space in a taxi or bus, has now been adapted to mean being in a fix or a difficult situation.
These robbery gangs often operate in commercial taxis. They have members of the gang in the vehicle, usually painted green. Members pretend to be genuine passengers and drive around looking for victims.
Threatening the security of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs is the rate of ‘one-chance’ activities being perpetrated by unscrupulous people who trap, rape and in some cases drug and kidnap unsuspecting passengers in taxis.
In time past, various forms of vices like robbery, snatching of bags, pick-pockets and “one chance” were only rampant in places like Lagos, Aba, Port Harcourt and Kano states but the wind of this criminal activity seems to have blown far, even to Abuja.
Some of the residents, who spoke with Abuja Review lamented that their lives were in danger over the activities of bandits who steal cars and rob at gunpoint.
A resident, Ayo Ojo whose Toyota Camry car was stolen while he was shopping in Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Lugbe, described the situation as “disturbing’’.
He said that car theft had become rampant in the FCT, adding that there had been a deluge of complaints at the FHA Police Station where he went to report the case of his stolen car.
“I quickly reported the case at the Lugbe Police Station, but I was shocked to meet some people with the same case of stolen cars at the station while some of them had already written their statements. I parked my car within the FHA Lugbe in front of the shop where I went to buy provisions at about 8:00 p.m. for my family and by the time I came out, I could not find my car,’’ he said.
Another resident, Mr. Ibrahim Ibrahim said his car, also a Toyota Camry (pencil light) was stolen around 10:30 p.m. last July.
Ibrahim said he had to park the car close to a shop and went to pick certain items, but was jolted when he discovered the car was no longer where it was parked.
He said, “My car is a Toyota Camry with silver colour and other valuables like laptop, food items, and my purse were all in the car. Another problem threatening the security of the FCT is the rate of ‘one-chance’ activities being perpetrated by unscrupulous people to trap passengers in taxis either to rob or capture them for rituals or ransom.”
A Nurse, Rose Ojomo in one of the FCT hospitals said she was a victim of a gang of ‘one-chance’ while returning from work last month.
Mrs. Ojomo said that immediately she entered the vehicle, she became suspicious as there were only men in the car, adding that her fear later materialised when she was asked to open her bag and bring out all the money inside.
Her words: “Immediately, they pointed a gun at me inside the car, I quickly told them I don’t have money. I was then asked to bring my ATM card where I led them to a bank to withdraw all the money in my account.”
Also, Miss Hosanna Ikechukwu, a civil servant said it was a sad day for her when she fell victim of ‘one-chance’ while returning from office.
Ikechukwu said that she was dispossessed of her valuables and almost lost her life to ‘one-chance’, criminals who threatened to kill her if nothing valuable was found on her.
She said that for the fact that she had money to part with; her life would have been in danger.
Mr Innocent Uyime of Area A, last road, Nyanya phase 2 told Abuja Review that he was returning from his office at Area one at 11:00pm after the day’s job. He boarded a cab at Area 3 junction to go home, but immediately after the old CBN junction, all the genuine passengers in the taxi were asked to co-operate, and the robbed them.
At Wuse/Berger Park, a member of the Union of Painted Abuja Taxi, PAT, who spoke in confidence said painted taxis belong to a number of unions, aside the national union, NURTW, while he explained the colour type at the top of the taxi clearly states which union a taxi belongs to.
He said: “You can differentiate the taxis with the colour on the top of the taxi to know which company a taxi is registered under. For instance, mine is painted blue which is under PAT and this other one (pointing to another taxi), you can see is painted orange which is under NURTW. Majority of the robberies that are being carried out by cabs are mainly by unpainted vehicles because there is nothing to identify them. For example, private vehicles are into the business of carrying passengers; if such operators commit crimes, they go scott free because no one can really identify or trace them”.
The bandit modus operand is to pose as taxi drivers in a bid to carry a passenger to a lonely road where they can perpetuate their evil act.
They do not pick more than one or two victims at a time. Then they drive them to a remote place, where they are threatened with gun, cutlass, charms or other dangerous weapons and dispossess them of their money, handsets, and other valuables.
Sometimes , after dispossessing the unsuspecting passengers of their valuables, they push them out of the moving vehicle, and if they are kind enough, they stop for their victim to alight before they zoom off. These gangs operate mostly during the early hours in the morning and late in the evening.
They have now added another dimension to their enterprise. They now target the SIM cards of their victims, alongside Automated Teller Machine (ATM), cards. It has been discovered that, with the SIM card, they can access their victim’s bank verification number (BVN) and have total access to other accounts linked to it.
However, it was gathered that with the advent of ATM as well as the Point of Sale (POS) which helps to reduce the volume of cash people carry on them, the gangs have devised new methods of robbing unsuspecting passengers.
They have realised that some people have their ATM cards in their bags or wallets, so, instead of robbing a passenger that falls prey to them and allow him or her to go, they search the passenger, take their ATM cards, take them to a particular destination and hold them hostage and demand for their ATM card pin number.
Woe betide such victim if he or she does not have either money or ATM card at hand.
A security expert told Abuja Review that: “Having disclosed the security code, one of the gang members would rush to the bank to empty the victim’s account, that is if the victim did not carry the POS with them. Don’t be deceived , they blind fold the victim and drop him on the way and zoom off.
Severally, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (CIID) FCT, had announced that it had created an anti-One-Chance Squad to arrest the situation. But the criminal act is not reducing.
Spokesperson , Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), FCT Command, David Akinbinu, recently told newsmen during one of the corps recent parade of suspects that their men and officers of the intelligence and special crime unit have been able to track down and arrest culprits.
He further explained that the command is not resting on its oars in ensuring that lives and properties of residents are protected.
Akinbinu who said the crack team of the FCT command of the Corps has rescued several victims , said the arrests were made possible by the proactive crime fighting measures deployed by the Command and the support of public-spirited individuals who have been partnering with them through the provision of information.
He said, “On the One Chance gangs, we have renewed commitment to rid FCT of the activities of one chance robbers, the Command’s newly-created Anti-One Chance Squad, has severally, smashed notorious gangs and recovered their operational vehicles.
The FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma few days ago vowed to tackle car snatching and other crimes.
