Fear grip Akalites as 2 motorcycles are snatched daily in Umuaka.
4 min read
Mrs Stella Nwanna from Obinwanne (not her real name), around Wednesday last week left Owerri for Umuaka on her motorcycle after finishing her business of the day. The journey was smooth from the beginning because the woman in question is a very careful rider. As Phil Collins would put it, “Something happened on the way to Heaven.” As she was getting close to Umuaka at the axis of Orodo and Achara boundary, just from nowhere, some boys riding the popular high speed 150 Qlink motorcycle confronted her. In less than 3 seconds, the “bike boys”
double-crossed her and pointed a gun at her, thereby forcing her to stop. According to our source, fear engulfed the poor woman as she did not know what to do. She assumed that was her end but God so kind, it was not.
The boys ordered her to surrender the motorcycle to them and without an iota of resistance, she fearfully handed the motorcycle to them and they zoomed off. A successful robbery expedition was thereby recorded!
Confused, helpless and speechless, she later picked a bus and came back home to Umuaka in tears. People who heard her story consoled her and told her to thank God that the boys were not violent.
Also within last week, an Umuaka born “motorcycle boy” also lost his bike to another set of motorcycle snatchers who invaded his movement with their Qlink bike. According to him, they also double-crossed him, shot twice into the air and snatched his bike and zoomed off.
Another fellow who was returning from one of the clubs in Ekwe and Isu Njaba area also lost his bike at gunpoint when some bad boys on a bike also pointed a gun at him at a very close range and made away with the bike after forcing him to stop. The story can go on and on because it appears that Umuaka town is now an indisputable land of opportunities for motorcycle snatchers. A highly dependable source that spoke with some Umuaka Times reporters last week confirmed that on daily basis, 2 or 3 motorcycles are snatched in the community alone and not to talk of other nearby towns.
The ugly trend according to Umuaka Times investigations may possibly have come to stay; findings show that there is no deterrent to the boys as they invade the community at any time to carry out their violent robbery activities. Sources who have witnessed the robberies from afar, confirmed to Umuaka Times that the bike snatchers usually come with pump action rifles and at times, the almighty AK47 assault rifles. A motorcycle boy whose bike was snatched at gunpoint early this year narrated to Umuaka Times how the Hollywood-like scene played out. In a voice laden with emotions, the guy who is a musician, told Umuaka Times that the bad boys were tracing and following him but he did not observe it on time until they met him at Umuduru Ekwe near Nkwo Ikpa. “The guy pointed a gun at me and ordered me to run. I had no option than to obey him. From afar, I watched them drove the bike away and I broke down and wept.”
Reports have it that there are roads that have been marked as dangerous when it is up to 7 pm and beyond. Such roads include, Orlu Owerri Road and precisely between Achara and Orodo. Another road is between Achara and Oboro Amurie as well as from Afor Umuaka to Hilltop Primary school area. Another side is along Umuezeala Uba and Amurie Road.
Not left among the dangerous roads are the road that passes at the back of Umuaka Community Hospital and the Isiozi side of Orlu Owerri Road. Umuaka Times also gathered that while driving towards Isu or Amaigbo is also dangerous at night.
In clear terms, it is a well-known fact that motorcycle snatchers can snatch bikes even in someone’s compound as far as they are armed and there is nobody to challenge them.
A high profile Akalite who spoke to Umuaka Times last week under the condition anonymity disclosed that the bike snatchers bounced back to Umuaka because there is no more security or check-points in the community. He lamented that the trend may last for long because there may be no security in the nearest future. He used the opportunity and tasked Umuaka stakeholders to hold talks with the military men at Obinze and see if military check-points will be allocated in Umuaka.
As prices of goods and services keep on soaring high on daily basis, anyone who loses his bike to armed robbers under the bad conditions of today will have a real hard time to replace it because all bikes are now sold more than a million Naira. Last week, Umuaka Times went into the market to establish the prices of motorcycles and what the correspondents saw were really shocking. A very old motorcycle used in Nigeria sells as costly as between N400,000 and N550,000 while new bikes sell for about N1,800,000 and N2 million.
For now, motorcycle owners are advised to be careful and observe what happens around them while driving because anyone who loses his bike is perfectly on his own. Only time will tell when this will come to an end.
