In recent years, Barika, a local community which links Agbowo to Orogun in Ibadan North Local Government, has recently been grappling with a surge in robbery and theft incidents that has left residents deeply concerned.
While the rise in criminal activities is distressing, an equally disconcerting issue is the palpable lack of belief in the local police force among Barika’s inhabitants.
Here, we explore the intersection of rising crime rates and the erosion of trust in law enforcement.
The Surge in Robbery Incidents:
In recent years, Barika has witnessed a noticeable increase in robbery incidents, ranging from petty thefts to more brazen and violent crimes. These incidents have occurred in various parts of the community, creating a sense of insecurity among the residents.
Residents recounted a period in the last two years marked by relentless armed robbery assaults within the community, and the ones in close proximity, which were so frequent and brutal that numerous inhabitants, primarily students from the University of Ibadan, opted to squat in campus hostels. Despite numerous grievances lodged at the Orogun police station, the robberies persisted until residents took matters into their own hands by hiring additional night watchmen. Unfortunately, criminal activities persist, metamorphosing from overt violent robberies to more covert yet substantial thefts in recent occurrences.
Narrating his ordeal to our reporter, a resident, popularly known as Gola, expressed his shock at the theft of his Elepaq Generator EC18000 CXS few months earlier.
Gola said: “Two months ago, they stole my generator in the night. There was power outage, and there was heat, so I was using the generator to power my fan. They restored the light for a while, took it again, and restored it again.
“Because the light was not stable, I didn’t carry the generator inside. At a point, they took the light for a while. When I went outside to put on the generator again, it has disappeared.
“Imagine, in a fenced house. I didn’t even hear the gate open! The generator cost three hundred and seventy naira when I purchased it.”
A widow in her late thirties, in a more recent incident, lost her whole investment to the cuffs of theft.
“I had sixteen full grown broiler fowls that I planned to sell this Christmas. I fed them on the night of last Saturday. When I woke up on Sunday, I met the cages empty.
“A whole sixteen fowls. I would have sold them for at least four thousand Naira each,” she added tearfully.
James Adeyemi, a M.Sc student of the University of Ibadan was also a victim of recent larceny.
According to James, he had come back from church two weeks ago to meet his lock tampered with, and the devices he was charging inside — an iPhone, two Android phones, a laptop, a power bank, and a Bluetooth speaker (MP) — all vanished.
“As I got home, I noticed subconsciously that my lock was damaged, but I didn’t think anything of it. In fact, I was removing my clothes, when my co-tenant who was charging in my room before we all went to church came and ask for her phone.
“I looked around, the floor was empty. They even carried everything with my school bag. They turned the contents all over my bed.”
The frequency and audacity of these criminal acts have prompted a critical examination of the factors contributing to this unsettling trend.
Residents’ Lack of Trust in the Police:
A noteworthy aspect of the situation in the community is the evident lack of trust residents have in the local police force. As a matter of fact, none of the three victims who spoke with our reporter lodged a complaint in the local police station at Orogun.
“I will rather go the diabolical way. The criminals will suffer unspeakable afflictions when I’m done with them,” said the widow.
Gola deemed the police “very useless”.
Indeed, the perpetrators of the previous violent attacks, some which allegedly led to injuries and deaths, were never apprehended. As a result of the perceived inefficiency and lack of responsiveness to community concerns, many residents hesitate to report crimes or suspicious activities, fearing that their efforts will yield no tangible results.
Reports by Ojo Faruk for IbadanCity ANNOUNCER
