As we turned into November two weeks ago, i thought in my mind that this year has been relatively peaceful in term of crimes and violence in my beloved city of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state. In the past years, i have had my fair share of robbery incidences. I have been robbed thrice between 2008 and 2013. I have lost belongings ranging from mobile devices to vehicle to the men of the underworld in the same city of Ibadan. Funny enough, i was really not bothered about these until now.
Like a well crafted project, the men of the underworld seems to have commence "operation end of the year" in Ibadan starting from the beginning of this month. Places like Iwo road, Olodo, Adewunmi Village (along Ibadan- Iwo road),Ojo Express, had been visited in the the past few days. In fact, it is fast become a daily occurrence now. Tinubu Layout in Monatan area of the ancient town was the point of call yesterday. During these visits, residents were usually dispossessed of their valuables, injured and beaten mercilessly. The strange thing about all these is that we have a police force who are suppose to be policing the city and we have a governor who said security is one of the main thrust of his administration. Right under their noses, these criminals are having field day. Communities have tried to mount resistance through gates and barricades, but it seems as if their efforts are not enough. I wish to appeal to the Governor, the Nigerian Police and all law enforcement agencies to help restore peace and sanity to these once "peaceful" city especially at this ember period.