What I Wasn't Told About Abuja Pick Pockets

Pick pocketing has become a crime some youths in Abuja have taken to. CHIKA MEFOR writes on her experience with Abuja pickpockets and why people should be watchful as everyone is a suspect.

Of course, I have heard about pick pocketing. I have been warned to clutch my bag tightly when moving around Abuja. I have been warned to be very careful when boarding a bus but nobody warned me about doing the same thing when alighting the bus. I should have known better. So when eventually it happened to me, I felt stupid instead of enraged.

It was on a bright Sunday afternoon, when one would have thought that pick pockets should be in church seeking for the forgiveness of their sins but they were still at work despite the scant commuters at the bus stops. I was carrying a travelling bag, which the conductor, for reasons I wasn't aware of, decided not to deposit in the boot of the vehicle. I had two more handbags. When, the bus got to Wuse bus stop from Kubwa, because the travelling bag was heavy I asked the conductor to help me bring it down.

Before other passengers and I could alight from the bus, about three people raced towards us trying, or should I say faking; to help me carry the hand bags, urging me to board their vehicle. I was still waiting for the conductor to bring down my travelling bag from the bus but it seems as if it was taking him ages. He stood still looking at the touts. I was wondering what's fascinating about the touts that he didn't care to bring down my bag when immediately I looked at my hand bag and noticed that its side zip was opened and my phone gone. It just disappeared. I looked up but all the touts have disappeared.,cheapcanadagoose produced during the 1970s and early 1980s did feature quartz movements, My phone has gone with the wind. But the story was just beginning. I looked towards the boys and was trying to pinpoint the likely thief when suddenly the conductor told me: "It should be one of those people smoking." I looked sideways and saw three young men in their mid-20s, shabbily dressed and smoking cigarettes. I took a deep breath and wondered how I would confront them. But somehow, I mustered up courage and was walking up to the young men when the conductor took off, ran ahead of me to meet one of the young men. I don't know what transpired between them but I saw one of them bring out my phone and hand it over to the conductor.

I couldn't but thank God for helping me find my phone but I never knew that I still had another issue to get it out of the conductor. He wanted money for retrieving my phone. How much do I pay as ransom? I brought out N200 but he refused to and wanted more. But the people around there urged him to take the money and he did.

A friend of mine had even a worse experience. While my phone disappeared from my hand bag, his disappeared from his breast pocket.

Okey was at a bus stop waiting for a bus that was taking ages to appear. He decided to while away time by listening to music with his phone. He had his phone in the front pocket of his shirt, with an earpiece stuck in his ears. Immediately a bus came, people rushed to board the bus, including Okey. When he sat down, he realised that the music he was listening to had stopped playing. He checked his breast pocket and the phone was gone with the wind. Okey ended up losing his phone, and worse still, he never did board the bus as he alighted to search for his phone.
Pickpockets have very light and fast fingers that can pick your pocket or your bag without you having a fink of what is happening. The famous fictional Oliver Twist never got to learn the trade despite tutelage by Fagin and his gang. He never got the grip of it not because he wasn't sharp but because he had a conscience. Successful pickpockets have no conscience. They have fast fingers that can pick through one's pocket or bag.

"That is how they work. They are too fast and smart," Kayode Smart, another victim said. "When they strike, you feel nothing but you actually lost a lot. They left me stranded one fateful day. I had gone to University of Abuja for some business. When I finished, I took a bike to the park, paid the bike man and collected my change. I added it with the N2000 I had already on me and placed everything in the back pocket of my jeans. I wanted to board a bus but decided to check my money first, lo and behold, my cash was gone."

According to Kayode, he was lost for a long time over what to do. He had to call some of his friends who sent him airtime aka recharge card which he sold at a phone booth. "That was how I got home. I never did know what happened; I never knew how my money got missing. They are so fast that you feel nothing."

Everybody is a suspect when it comes to pick pocketing. Like AIDS, it's not drawn on anyone's face. It could be anyone. The idea is for one to be careful and wary of everyone. Mama Nkechi, a fruit seller in Wuse market, has this advice for everyone, "People should make sure that they do not put valuable things in their side bags. If they do, they should be sure to keep that side close to their body., alexanderwangreplica offer a wide selection of Replica Watches of all popular Replica Watches brands including Replica Bell & Ross Watches, Another important thing is to avoid putting one's money in one's back pocket. It is an easy and inviting target for pickpockets. Many have lost valuables because of carelessly handling of their valuables," she said.