Police Give Tips On How To Avoid ‘One Chance’ Robbery Gangs

The FCT Police Command has issued security advisory to Abuja residents on how to spot and avoid ‘one chance’ robbery gangs who specialize in dispossessing unsuspecting passengers of commercial vehicles of their belongings.

The spokesman of the Command, D.S.P Anjugurijesse Manzah, gave the tips following an attack on a staff of THE WHISTLER on Thursday by the ‘one chance’ robbers.

Yange Ikyaa was dispossessed of his laptop, money and other personal belongings after boarding a Volkswagen Sharon bus going to Kubwa from Gwarimpa, Abuja.

Speaking in a phone interview with this newspaper on Thursday, Manzah revealed how the FCT command recently paraded five ‘one chance’ robbery syndicates.

“Last Thursday the FCT Police Command paraded about five syndicates of ‘One Chance’ robbers operating along the Kubwa-AYA axis with different modes of operation.

The police spokesperson said the command also recovered three operational vehicles being used by the syndicates.

On how to avoid ‘one chance’ robbers, Manzah said: “The primary thing about this is the issue of security consciousness on the part of members of the public while the Command will continue to provide the public with the desired security.

“Before you board a car, you have to do a discreet check. You don’t bump into a car because it stopped. And as much as possible, when you are entering a car, make sure you’re not entering the car alone. It helps to avoid the criminals.

The police spokesperson added: “The fact is that it is not written on the face that this car is into this. It is the collaboration between the members of the public and the police that will help us to get it right.

“Members of the public will do us a lot of good by being cautious when they board taxis. Security consciousness is very paramount while boarding taxis.

“Secondly, when you’re boarding taxi and you notice unusual action by other passengers in the vehicle, the police thing to do is to ask the driver that you want to highlight even when you’ve not necessarily reached your destination. You will look out for where you have a large number of persons around then you raise an alarm after highlighting.

“Also, people should be conscious of the time and hour of their movement. You don’t stand on lonely points to board a taxi. Try as much as possible to stand at points where there are other people around.

“You should look at the composition of persons in the car. When a car is having a space for only one passenger, you should be wary of such.”

Manzah also advised commuters to avoid a taxi when someone comes down for asks them to enter and be in the middle.

He added, “When ever you are stopping a car, ask the driver where he is going. The mistake most people make is that as soon as they stop a taxi, the driver will ask them when they are going and say he is going their direction. But if you ask the driver where is going and find that he is not going your route, let him go.”

Manzah  further said the public must take the security advisory the police are giving very seriously to reduce the chances of falling victim of the criminals.