Pickpocketing is not a new crime in Nigeria. It has been in existence for a very long period. In the 70s a place like Tafawa Balewa Square otherwise known as Race Course, in Lagos Island was the den of pick pockets. Then some passengers boarding Lagos State Transport Corporation buses plying Race Course – Palm Grove – Oshodi – Cappa (the last bus stop) Route usually hid their money and other valuables in their pants, bras, stockings and other funny places.
In 1979 I and some other young secondary school students who patronised the State buses because the transport fare was relatively cheap (just 15 kobo) from Race Course to Cappa.
Though commuters at Oshodi, Yaba, Oyingbo, Ajegunle, Mile Two, Ojota, Iyana Ipaja, among other places in Lagos were not left out as pickpockets also operated in their areas. Some had lost their pay packets and wept.
The pickpockets could be two, three, or more, depending on the gang. Their illegal escapades became so rampant at Race Course that we (students) began to monitor their activities.
Each time somebody screamed that they had dispossessed them of their money either in the afternoon, evening or night, students would chase the hoodlums and anyone apprehended would be beaten black and blue.
Students usually alert the would-be victims if they noticed some of the pickpockets trying to carry out their act.
The pickpockets one day in 1979 when I was still a young student, connived with their colleagues who operated in other areas in Lagos to come to Race Course and deal with us.
As their modus operandi was usually to use one of their colleagues in crime to block the entrance of the buses as if they were struggling to board the bus because the buses were not enough to contain the commuters at same time. People scrambled to board the available vehicles and in the process the pickpockets would steal their money and other valuables.
So on that fateful day in 1979 my colleagues from different secondary schools were monitoring the pickpockets because there was no bus and commuters were stranded that afternoon, including us.
When a bus finally arrived, we knew the hoodlums would strike but unknown to us they had mapped out a plan against us.
Suddenly one man screamed that a pickpocket has stolen his money. Three other men around said the students should join them to chase the thief who was pretending to escape. We ignorantly chased the hoodlum towards NET building now called NITEL.
Suddenly the pickpockets we were chasing turned around and began to call us thieves. We were sandwiched as they attacked us with sticks. We were shocked to know that the three men urging us to join in the chase were also pickpockets.
Some soldiers came to our rescue and two of the hoodlums were arrested. After explanation, (trust Nigerian soldiers) they gave them the beating of their lives.
After the incident, students who usually board the bus at Race Course decided to attack any of the hoodlums during their various operations and that led to the reduction of pickpockets at Race Course.
Students who usually board the State bus we called 'Funky Train' because of the number of passengers and lots of strange occurrences or funny things that happen in such vehicles became their prey while they ours.
The method the pickpockets adopted was to slyly dip their hands into the victim's pocket and remove whatever they can in his possession usually while rushing to board the bus. Some also use razor blade to cut victims pockets or handbags. They usually held newspapers to cover their hands to block people from seeing them.
It was common to hear victims scream if he or she noticed that the money in their pockets or purse was gone.
There are other methods of pickpocketing. One is called 'Ogbe ko gbe'. Meaning: Dried or not dried. Pickpockets in this category would steal any cloth they find hanging out on a line whether dry or not.
Another are the modern ones who would snatch handsets or purse during traffic grid locks. They may be two in number. While one would be at the off-side door talking to the driver, the other standing close to the driver's door would use the opportunity to steal from the driver.
Those others who operate on motorcycles snatch people's bags and speed of, while the most daring are those that could be tagged robbers, who would intimidate victims and collect their cash and other valuables before taking to their heels.
These cases have become very rampant in Lagos.
A victim who lost N100,000 to such hoodlums, Mama Agnes said she was returning from work but she arrived Mile Two area, two boys came to her and ordered her to surrender her hand bag and she did. Mama Agnes told LEADERSHIP Sunday: "My brother this is the third time hoodlums would snatch her money. The first one was in December 1982 at Oshodi when I was boarding a bus to Orile. They stole the money and I couldn't buy Christmas clothes for my three children because I'm a widow. The second was in 2001 when hoodlums operating on Okada snatched my purse containing N21,000 along Kirikiri Road Olodi- Apapa. The last was January this year when the hoodlums collected my N100, 000," she said.
Why and how some pickpockets step up to become armed robbers
Most armed robbers or pickpockets would say the devil led them into the act. Some would claim that they are orpans and because they are abjectly poor they had to join a gang to survive.
Some would blame it on peer group, saying their friends introduced them into the act.
What baffles most people in Lagos is how the hoodlums know themselves. The pickpockets popular called 'awala boys and girls' have a way of walking and behaving, especially in Ajegunle area of Lagos State. Their dressings are usually very different and even their movements.
The girls usually wear very short knickers which a responsible girl will not wear in public. They usually fixed eyelashes, walk like exhibitionists while their men tend to walk with a slant or bend. They like jeans trousers, and they are 'in love with' Indian hemp. They are big spenders in parties (among the poor).
Lagos State police command recently arrested three suspected armed robbers after a tenant connived with them to rob their neighbours in Ajegunle area of the metropolis.
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, led by the officer in charge, SP Abba Kyari arrested the three man-gang on June 15, 2014.
The three suspects are Bode Oladejo, 22, Christian Opene, 26, and Matthew Nwachie, 20.
The tenant, Opene who resides at Turner Eradiri Street, Ajegunle had some misunderstandings with his neighbour, Godwin Perebor, after the caretaker allegedly showered hot water on him.
Opene was said to have gone to invite the gang to rob the whole residents.
The complainant and victim Perebor was robbed on June 14, along with two other ladies in the house at about 3am while Opone was outside the compound.
He allegedly escaped from the scene with the gang who had been dispossessing the victims of their cash and ATM cards.
They carted away N295,000, a purse, two ATM cards and a company ID card.
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