Trend alert: Car owners chaining batteries, bonnets

Many car owners, especially in Abuja have been victims of car battery theft and this may be due to lack of garages and organized parking spaces with efficient security.  Some motorists said it is not easy to have a car as one has to contend with many things, including cost of maintenance, hassle for parking […]

Many car owners, especially in Abuja have been victims of car battery theft and this may be due to lack of garages and organized parking spaces with efficient security.

 Some motorists said it is not easy to have a car as one has to contend with many things, including cost of maintenance, hassle for parking space at work or at home, road transport regulating agencies like Federal Roads Safety Commission, (FRSC) Vehicle inspection Officers, VIO, Police and Task Force.

A car owner said “I am happy to have secured my car from burglars, as it is cheaper to have a burglary costs two thousand naira for the chain, cost of fixing it by the Panel Beater and the padlock. It is hectic to remove a car battery every evening and then fix it back in the morning. All I have to contend with now is the safe keep of my car and battery padlock keys.”

Some motorists said it is evident that the residents of Abuja are always in haste and do not spare some time to give a helping hand to help push cars that break down, unlike in other cities and towns in Nigeria. This is why many people living in Abuja do not take the issue of car batteries for granted.

A Panel Beater, Ibrahim Alaramma Shaibu said: “Many people come to us to fix burglary-proof in their car to guard against battery theft. I fix two joined chains which I buy at the cost of one thousand naira, drill a passage to hook up the chain with the bonnet of the car and an opening for the car owner to use a padlock of his choice to secure the car bonnet.”

A welder, Mamuda Malumfashi Saidu said the number of motorists coming to them to secure their car batteries is increasing daily, and many car owners applaud them for their ingenuity because they don’t have to contend with removing their car batteries every day. “We charge just one thousand naira to buy a used motor-cycle chain and weld it onto the battery holder and thereby make an opening for the insertion of padlock,” he said. 

A battery trader, Shaibu Daddy Yakubu said “It is sad how many car owners are becoming victims of car battery theft since the price went up. Sixty-Five amperes battery costs N13,000 from N10,000 and sixty-five amperes at N17,000.”  

The burglary proof measure has made it possible for some motorists to sleep with their eyes closed, especially in Abuja, the nation’s capital.