Rising Criminality in Awka, Worrisome

Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, is under siege. All manner of criminality is currently taking place in the city. It is now risky to pass or drive through some places without the likelihood of one being pounced upon and have their phone, cash and other items taken away.

There are also the incessant and unchecked cult killings that have further thrown fear into residents of the capital city. The only soothing thing about this, though, is that they mostly attack and kill themselves, although it is also believed that many of these crimes are perpetrated by them.

But lately, there have appeared what looks like house to house robberies in the night. Robbers now storm streets, burst into some houses and steal money, phones and laptops and go free

This is worrisome, especially given the fact that they do so unchallenged.

One therefore wonders why the various streets have not set up street vigilantes to work in concert with community vigilantes and the police

The setting up of such vigilantes will help in no small measure in checking the activities of these hoodlums, as well as providing jobs for those in the security business.

As for robberies along the streets, the police should embark on regular patrols together with the vigilantes and also particularly focus on flash points. They can operate in mufti in order to infiltrate criminal gangs and extort vital information from residents.

We condemn any form of criminality. Some people have argued that because of the harsh economy of the country, many youths are being forced into crime. We vehemently disagree.The problem with many of our youths is actually laziness, drug addiction and the obsession to make money through any means without honest work. There simply is no justification for crime. If our youths can leave the shores of Nigeria and go to foreign countries to do menial work, why can’t they do it here?

But here, you find young men who are loath to do any work but like to make easy money off hard working folks. It is unacceptable. There is no excuse for crime, it can never be justified and should not. The insecurity ravaging the capital city which is one of the smallest capital cities in Nigeria, is not something that can and should not be handled rather easily by security agents.

The police and other security agencies should therefore brainstorm on how to arrest the current situation before it escalates further. A bunch of criminals cannot hold an entire city to ransom. The time to treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves is now.