How ‘one-chance’ robbery claimed life of AIT journalist

On his way to work a journalist with African Independent Television, (AIT), Abuja was killed after boarding a vehicle operated by thieves. For Abayomi Adigun, a journalist of the Africa Independent Television (AIT)/Ray Power Radio, there was no premonition that the vehicle he boarded will be the end of him. Adigun was on his way […]

On his way to work a journalist with African Independent Television, (AIT), Abuja was killed after boarding a vehicle operated by thieves.

For Abayomi Adigun, a journalist of the Africa Independent Television (AIT)/Ray Power Radio, there was no premonition that the vehicle he boarded will be the end of him.

Adigun was on his way to the office on the night of September 1st, when he boarded a taxi from Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja to AYA where he would connect a tricycle to his office. Unknown to him, the ‘taxi’ was occupied by “one-chance robbers.”

It was gathered that he was on the production crew of AIT’s Kaakaki programme after his transfer a couple of months ago from the media house’s Ilorin, Kwara State office.

His lifeless body was said to have been recovered by the police along Kubwa-AYA expressway on Tuesday with several stab wounds. A police source confirmed that there were stab wounds and marks of violence towards the deceased’s left eye.

Confirming the incident, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma said the police has commenced discreet investigation into the case and effort is being made to not only arrest the killers of Adigun, but also to nip the crime in the bud.

But the case of Adigun, regrettably, is one of many of such in the Federal Capital Territory in recent times, residents said.

The term ‘one-chance’ taken from the pidgin colloquialism, literally means finding oneself where the undesirable is the only way out; in other words finding oneself in a fix. The word drives as much fear as the crime it connotes.

With Abuja having no recognized public transit system to aid mass movement between the satellite towns and the city centre aside the few red buses plying some selected routes in the city, the activities of these robbers continue to fester.

Most residents, especially those that make use of commercial transportation, have either had an encounter or know someone that has had an encounter with these criminals.

Their mode of operation, according to the Police and some of the arrested suspects, is for the criminals to disguise as commercial motorists and passengers. These criminals then pick unsuspecting passengers and after driving for few metres, rob the passenger of their belongings and then drop them off. Sometimes, like the case of Adigun, the robbery results in death of the victim.

The menace has become one of the topmost troubling crimes for the police and residents of the capital city. This upsurge in the crime led the FCT police commissioner to create a new unit – the Anti-One-Chance Squad to specifically tackle the crime.

Although fighting the crime is challenging as admitted by Commissioner Ciroma, the command through the new unit has recorded several successes with arrests and many of the suspects currently facing trials.

But beyond the arrests and prosecutions, CP Ciroma appealed to residents to be more security conscious. He noted that since it is impossible for the police to check every vehicle before passengers board them and because of the mode of operation of the suspects, the crime is only known after it had been committed.

“However, as a strategy, we decided that instead of allowing it to be committed, why don’t we put up a measure that will prevent the crime. We made it one of our priorities in our 2019 Policing Plan for FCT Police Command. One chance robbery is one of the crimes we identified and mapped out strategies to squarely face it.

“Apart from that, we are also synergising with other security agencies, the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) because we realised that most of these vehicles that are used for one-chance robberies are private vehicles used for transportation,” he said.

Ciroma also urged the media to support the campaign against crime with programmes and reports that will educate, enlighten as well as create awareness for the members of the public on security consciousness.

It was also gathered that vehicles mostly used by these criminal include Golf 3, Honda Accord, Mazda, Toyota Carina and Volkswagen Sharon space bus. Most of these vehicles are painted in a dark green colour to mirror the lighter green colour of commercial taxis in the FCT.

Meanwhile, a security expert, who doesn’t want to be named, also advised that when members of the public find themselves in the vehicles of these criminals, it would be best for such victim not to struggle with the criminals. He added that the victim can raise alarm when the vehicle approach a crowded place or report to the police as soon as he is released from the vehicle.

Generally, journalists all over the world in the course of their duties are usually victims of upheavals. They are injured and sometimes killed during protests. According to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), worldwide, 15 journalists have been killed in various circumstances this year. 54 were killed in 2018 while 47 were killed in 2017. These figures are apart from those who were injured or are missing.

Two months  back, during the protest by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) in Abuja on July 22, 2019, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving as a reporter with Channels Television, Abuja, Precious Owolabi, was killed while covering the crisis. These are just incidences journalists face in the course of their work.