LAST week, I dipped into my ARCHIVAL BANK to educate you on safety and security measures for this festive season. Today, I am continuing the discussion.
Be your neighbour’s keeper
Everybody wants to celebrate the yuletide season in one way or the other. Criminals are not exception. Therefore, expect them to go on rampage this season. However, to combat them, we must be our neighbour’s keeper. How? We should always join our distressed neighbours, raising real alarms to arrest criminals or ward them off. For instance, when at night you hear your neighbour screaming THIEF. THIEF…. THIEF, join him in transmitting the voice alarm. Such alarm scare criminals.
Also help to call in the police while the criminals are in your neighbour’s home since he cannot do so. You help yourself too when you contribute to fighting criminals at your neighbours household.
Be security conscious
Be warned!! Crime has no frontier. Today, the man next door could be attacked by a criminal. Tomorrow, you could be the next victim. This means that we should be security alert always at our homes, in your offices, in our neighbourhoods and while on the road. A little mistake and you are in trouble. The criminal has ripped you off.
Do you think criminals operate only at night? If you do, you are mistaken. Most now operate during the day time because they believe it is safer to do so. So, take your security serious at day time, too.
Moreover ensure your home is secure during every night vigil attendance, most especially on the eves of Christmas and new year day. Most homes empty into places of worship on such occasions giving criminals opportunities to raid these homes.
Commuters, travellers
When commuting within a town or city don’t hop into every commercial vehicle you see. Scrutinise it before boarding. These days both taxi-cabs and tuke-tuke buses are being used for one – chance robbery.
Don’t accept lifts from unknown persons even though you are held up at a bus stop or motor-park. Also, don’t accept drinks/food from strangers in a vehicle or its driver. They could be drugged. Criminals usually play the card of over-friendliness to give drugged foods/drinks to unwary passengers/drivers whom they rob after they have become senseless or fallen asleep.
More advice. Don’t just hop into a vehicle at the motor-park. Secreatly take down its registration number, make type and colour code. Text these information to your family members. Write these information down if you accompanied your friend, relation or family members to the motor,park. In addition, take in the facial appearance of the driver of the vehicle as well as those of one or two passengers. While on the journey, avoid the habit of absorbing yourself with playing computer games or other digital pastimes. Instead, be at full alert monitoring all that is going on in the vehicle. Don’t take chances because the passenger sitting next to you may be a criminal.
Maybe, this story will illustrate what I mean. One day, a police patrol stopped a commercial vehicle with passengers for routine check. As one of the policeman on duty was searching the vehicle, he lifted a loaf of bread sitting on the back seat. Behold, the bread was unusually big and heavy. This drew the suspicion of the policeman. He brought out the bread from the vehicle removed the wrap and a revolver fell out from the bread!!.
The owner of the bread was promptly arrested along with the driver. Other passengers had to re-order their journey to their destinations. The lesson here is that we must always have triple of our transport fare handy so that we can accommodate emergencies during our journeys. You should even set aside more money to cope with mishaps this yuletide season when transport fares have soared.
Lest I forgot, don’t travel when you feel sleepy. Cancel the journey. Sleeping in a commercial vehicle during a trip is hazardous. You expose yourself to being robbed or ending up in ritual killers den. These times are rush hours for criminals and ritualists – not for travelers alone. Furthermore, avoid night journeys. Travel during the day. It is safer to do so.
Watch your car
Car snatchers are more on the prowl during this yuletide season. For instance, lots of persons will be in Edo State at this time for the xmas and new year celebrations. Expectly, there will be a deluge of cars in the state from which criminals will pick from, so to speak. Therefore, watch your car. Secure it electronically to avoid it from being stolen where it is parked.
Also, cultivate the habit of locking the steering wheel of your car. It is more difficult snatching such a car. Be informed!! Car snatchers have access to fabricated master keys with which they open locked car doors after which they drive away your car from where you felt it was securely parked. Sometimes, it is only your valuables in the car the car robbers are interested in for this reason, don’t leave money and other valuables inside your car. Take them along with you.
Collaborate with the police
During this season, Edo Police Command has put in place several security arrangements to ensure that criminals are put out of action. Hence, all you need to do is to collaborate with the command to optimised policing this yuletide period. There are several ways you can go about this. Firstly, ensure you have the operational numbers of your DPO Area Commander and the control room of Edo Police Command. When in distress, call their numbers. Always have enough credit on your mobile phones most especially at night before retiring to bed.
Secondly, stop the unwholesome attitude of reporting attempted crime or crime itself to television/radio phone-in programmes. They are not police stations. The proper thing is to report crime to the police. Heed the advice of CP Foluso Adebanjo, Edo State Commissioner for Police. “If you see something, do something and say something to the police.
Conclusion
On January 3, 2014 Sharon Ajayi of Independent Radio, Benin reported that Edo State citizens rated the 2013/2014 yuletide season as the most peaceful in the state. Our prayers? That of 2014/2015 should be better off as long as we all partner with the police in securing our state. It is important, security of lives and property is a yearly progression not a retardation. And, so, each year let’s take security during the yuletide season to a higher level.
