Mobile phone snatching worries Kano residents

A new technique of snatching mobile phones adopted by some young men within Kano metropolis is becoming a source of concern to many residents in the state, Kano Chronicle reports. Our reporter observed that some young men in the state metropolis, mostly drug addicts, have devised a new approach of robbing residents of their phones […]

A new technique of snatching mobile phones adopted by some young men within Kano metropolis is becoming a source of concern to many residents in the state, Kano Chronicle reports.

Our reporter observed that some young men in the state metropolis, mostly drug addicts, have devised a new approach of robbing residents of their phones by attacking them with lethal weapons especially knives and other sharped objects to forcefully take away their phones.

Kano Chronicle findings indicated that the snatchers target places such as bus stops, traffic junctions, less busy streets and other related areas to carry out their heinous act. 
They simply point knives at their victims; demand for their mobile phones and any slight resistance could be disastrous to the victims.

One of the victims of the unfortunate trend, Malam Muttaka Turaki Gujungu told Kano Chronicle that the menace had become a serious issue that needs urgent attention from the security agencies especially the police.

Gujungu said, “I entered a commercial tricycle, also known as Adaidaita Sahu, at 212 junction along Court road to eastern bypass; while we were going down the road, two young men who pretended to be passengers stopped us and one of them asked the rider where we were heading to and he answered him. The guy turned to his colleague and asked him whether they could enter or wait for another tricycle.

“I was making a call while they were discussing with the rider. Unexpectedly, the other guy that was standing beside me grasped my phone and the two of them brought out knives and ordered us to leave the place immediately. When we attempted to confront them, they attacked us with the knives. The one that attacked me did not succeed but the other who attacked the rider injured him on the hand. They finally ran into a nearby refuse dump center and disappeared.”

He pointed out that the incident happened within five minutes and that the young men took the advantage of the place to conduct their wicked operation, noting that the street was dark due to lack of street light.

Gujungu therefore appealed to government to provide street light in the area in order to forestall criminal activities taking place there especially during night hours, saying that “even the refuse dump area needs light as the darkness is making the place to be a heaven for criminals.”

Malam Al-Amin Muhammad of Dorayi quarters recalled how one woman was severely injured by the phone snatchers in their bid to snatch her phone along BUK road close to Aminu Kano College for Legal Studies.

He said the woman was about crossing a pedestrian bridge around 7pm when the young men pounced on her and snatched her phone forcefully.

Muhammad said when she made an attempt to resist the attack she was over powered and thrown off the pedestrian bridge into the nearby gutter before she was rescued by passers-by.

Another victim, Nazeer Lawal Adam was so lucky to escape with his two mobile phones after two young snatchers attempted to forcefully collect them from him along Mundubawa road in the state metropolis.

Adam explained that he was on his way to Lamido Crescent from Mundubawa after he paid a visit to his business partner when suddenly the two young snatchers between the ages of 17 to 25 approached him and demanded for his mobile phone.

“One of them approached me and asked me to hand over my mobile phone to him while the other guy was watching us from a distance. He said in Hausa language ‘Kai kawo wayar nan’ meaning, ‘you bring that phone’. 

“I said to him come and take it. Unfortunately for him he confronted me with intention to take the phone and when he came closer, I hit him with my leg and he fell into a culvert. Having realized what happened to his colleague, the other guy ran away. So I was lucky they could not succeed in taking away my phones,” he said.

Abubakar Adamu was another lucky victim of the ugly trend who narrowly escaped the trap of the mobile phone snatchers in Badawa quarters, Nassarawa local government area of the state.

He said the incident occurred about three weeks ago, saying he was passing some young men on his way to home when one of them, who noticed the mobile phone he was holding, started following him.

“When I noticed that the attention of the young man was focused on my phone, I said to him ‘it is my phone, do you want to take it? And he said in Hausa ‘A’a Oga ai ba irinku za mu yiwa haka ba’ meaning ‘No, Oga you are not the kind of people we can do that to’ and he quickly left the place,” Adamu said.

Muhammad Bashir was another victim, who also struggled with the a phone snatcher to save his Black Berry mobile phone at Ja’en quarters in Kumbotso local government area of the state.

He told Kano Chronicle that he was assisting a driver to fix his plat tyre around 7pm when a young man tried to snatch his phone.

“I was using the touch of my phone to assist the driver fix the tyre when the boy appeared and grasped the phone in his effort to take it away. I was lucky that I held the phone tightly otherwise he could have ran away with it. Even at that I had to struggle with him to save the phone.”

An eyewitness, Muhammad Hamza told Kano Chronicle that he witnessed how two young  men snatched an iPad phone from a lady at Dangi roundabout in a broad daylight operation.

He said the lady was inside a tricycle while the young men were sitting beside the road, the road users were waiting for the traffic light to permit them when the snatchers saw the girl chatting with her iPad phone.

“They went directly to that particular tricycle, one stood at the lady’s side and the other at the other angle. They ordered her to hand over the phone and she obliged. Immediately they collected the phone, they disappeared from the scene and nobody pursue them,” he said.

Hamza appealed to security agencies to do something to address the situation before it goes out of hand, lamenting that the dreadful act of mobile phone snatching within the state metropolis had become widespread.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, said the state police command had received numerous complaints regarding the ugly trend, adding that the police had swung into action to address the problem.

Majia said a number of suspects had been arrested and charged to court for robbery and other offenses, adding that the police had also embarked on regular patrol of hideouts of the criminals.

He also said that the police had engaged communities’ members in addressing this particular menace in the state, noting that the menace had reduced when compared to what was happening few months back.

Majia said, “We have embarked on constant raid of the popular spots where these criminals are conducting their activities which include among others, Gidan Murtala, Bakin Kasuwa Rimi, market, Tukuntawa, Zango and Kofar Mata areas.

“We have arrested notorious suspects including Muhammad Sulaiman a.k.a Aljan, Rabi’u Abdullahi a.k.a Hitler, Nura Kankarofi, Alhazai of Yakasai and Nazifi Kanabaro who did not only surrendered but also helped the police in neutralizing many members of Yandaba groups.”