Automobile hijackers return to Umuaka as Christmas approaches.
3 min read
Just as businesses men and women, civil servants, artisans and other private sector workers are preparing to see if they can still manage to celebrate the 2020 Xmas, after a long Covid19 lockdown, criminals such as armed robbers, and pickpockets are also making their intensive preparations for the yet to come Yuletide. Stories of motor cars, motorbikes and telephone theft are back and many people especially in Umuaka are already suffering from the activities of these boys.
Recently, during a funeral event in Uba and Isiozi which were held on the same day, early this month, two persons who visited the bereaved families respectively lost their vehicles they drove to the events. Also in Uba, during the same event, an elderly man lost his motorcycle as well. According to the man, he was given a tag by the security men on duty, and when he was done visiting the bereaved family, he came out to carry his bike home but was shocked that it had been removed from where it was parked. The security men at the funeral event put up efforts to locate the motorcycle but after a long search, it downed on them that the motorcycle had been stolen. The old man wondered why someone would steal his very old motorcycle which was his only source of movements.
A couple of days ago, a young motorcyclist from Achara who lives in Uba was double-crossed along Uba Amurie Road at about 8 pm by some armed motorcycle thieves who also used motorcycle to rob. The moment he was forced to stop, a pistol was shown to him and immediately they dispossessed him of his motorcycle and zoomed off towards Amurie with the bike. According to the boy, the guys who robbed him first asked him of his big phone. When the boy told them that he had no big phone they searched him and took some cash they got in his pocket. The victim expressed happiness that they bad boys did not inflict injuries on him.
The stories are the same all over Umuaka. Some victims who spoke with Umuaka Times confirmed that these robbers who now patrol the town and her environs especially at night are usually armed with daggers or pistols and at times with both. The use of Covid19 face mask has also aided the success of these hijackers. The Achara boy who lost his motorcycle at gunpoint confirmed to Umuaka Times that those who robbed him were all wearing big Covid19 face masks and caps in order to properly disguise their identities.
A couple of weeks ago, a beer palour in Uba suffered a tremendous business loss when some guys who came in a motorcycle, ordered everybody at the joint to lie down. They all did. A member of the gang then collected all the phones from the customers and then took off immediately. Till date, no clue has been uncovered towards how the ugly incident happened.
Also in Umuezeala Uba recently, some bad boys on a motorcycle robbed someone of his phone while the fellow was making a call with the phone. The moment the fellow handed the phone to them, they zoomed off.
As at press time last week, Umuaka Times could not ascertain if these victims reported these incidents to the police or not. Areas like Hilltop axis, Umuezeala Road, the road that passes at the back of Umuaka Community Hospital have all been identified as high risk areas at night.
