Ogombo Community sends SOS to Lagos Commissioner of Police ...As burglars invade

The last six weeks has been terrible for the residents of Ogombo Community in Etiosa East local Council Development Area of Lagos State who has been under dangerous burglar’s attack.  

The rustic village has become haven for petty and dangerous thieves, who have made the town very un-conducive for the residents of the area.

This has led a call by the community to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and the State Government, including the LCDA to come to their aid before they are whipped out of existence by the goons holding them to the jugular.  

 Available reports indicate that the residents are living under fear, as no one knows the next victim. According to the residents who spoke to the Daily Newswatch, the Nigerian police in the area are looking the other way round while the goons ransack and loot the community in more bizarre attacks.

Investigations revealed that the police are helpless to confront the hoodlums leading to their unchallenged attacks.

In the last few weeks, several houses have been attacked and in each attacks, properties worth several hundreds of thousands are allegedly carted away. Residents say, no arrest has been made or any of the properties recovered.

Investigation indicates that the Divisional Police headquarters in Ogombo seems to have no answers to several attacks carried out against the community. Ask average resident of the area, who their suspects could be and you won’t be surprise to blame the police. Their reasons are that the police have failed to their duty in protecting them.

“This has made some members of the community to begin to point fingers at the police for showing lukewarm attitude to their plight especially as cases of burglary are happening every time without solution”, a concerned businessman in the area stated.

One of the victims whose house was robbed but rather preferred not to be named narrated a chilling story of how his four bedroom apartment located at Owode-Ogombo, was broken into by an unknown persons. According to him, “When I came back from work that Saturday evening, November 2, 2013, I met my house burgled and I immediately reported to the police station at Ogombo”, he stated.

“After taking my statement, I was asked to come back the following day at 8 am. On getting there, to my surprise, the Investigation Police Officer (IPO) was reluctant to accompany me to see the scene of the crime. Despite hiring a cyclist to take us to my house, the policeman refused and said the water on the road will stain his dress; as a result would not be able to follow me”, he continued.

“He commanded me to go take the pictures of the scene and bring to the station as evidence that my house was burgled. I got confused with a lingering question: why do we have policemen when they can’t accompany a complaint to see a crime scene. I left their station and have not been there again”. Witnessed added that the man’s house was burgled as all the rooms in the four- bedroom- flat reduced to empty.

 It was discovered that every item in the house was carefully searched. Besides, the burglary proof in one of the windows was completely severed from the wall before making away with an uninstalled new flat screen ’40 inches’ television with its accessories valued at over N150, 000.

In addition, they also made away with a DSTV decoder, the victim’s wife wedding ring, a new clipper and other household properties.

The policemen at the DPO Ogombo are accused of un-seriousness professional duty in the area. The residents   revealed that policemen at Ogombo Division have the habit of asking complainants to take pictures of the crime scene and bring it to the station. They abhor going to the scene of the crime to know the level of damage done in the attack.

Even when a crime is reported, they are alleged to remain less concerned in the whole saga. Most of the attacks recently carried out have not been inve4stigated and no suspect arrested either.

  “They show reluctance to visit crime scenes each time any attack was reported, rather they would ask the victim to take pictures of the scene and bring it to them,” a resident quipped.

As that wasn’t enough, another victim, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said his house was burgled about two months ago after he had left for work in the morning.

He stated that the goons gained entry into his house after removing the burglary proof.

 “When I reported at the station I was shocked to the marrow when the police told me they cannot accompany me to see the place rather I should take pictures of the place. They were even not sympathetic to my plight having lost two laptops, one desktop computer, several suits, electronic gadgets and N150, 000, cash”. He narrated.

In the same fate was one Serike, who lives about one kilometre to the Police Station at Ogombo. Despite the closeness of this man’s house to the DPO’s office, the house was not spared from the sledgehammers of the burglars. His house was allegedly torn into broken pieces. Through the suspended ceiling, the burglars move stealthily into the sitting room and ransacked the house. So because of difficulties encountered by the thieves in removing household items found in the house, they allegedly removed the burglary proofs by detaching them off from the wall while in one of the rooms, they carefully removed one of the windows before making away with a Plasma Television and a digital camera from the house.

In another development, a man complained that policemen at Ogombo Division show lukewarm attitude to complaints but that they are quick to ask for money on anything that happened in the area.  He stated that the police station ask for what they called ‘mobilization fee’. It was further revealed that the men of the Nigerian Police request for 10% of money.

It was gathered that a man who was paid N152, 500 by a truck driver for breaking a section of his fence and that when the case was taken to the station to enable him repair the damaged fence, the police demanded to be compensated. A police source alleged that when the truck driver eventually agreed to pay the money as agreed, that when the other man went to collect the money from the station; he was shocked when he was told that 10% of the money belonged to the police this was on the heels of the truck driver was made to bail himself with some amount of money and his truck released. “I had no option than to painfully accept it. After the deduction of what they called their ‘tithe’, N25, 000 was removed. I had to bear the extra cost to complete the repairs,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is fear in the land of Ogombo because the residents are sleeping with one eyes open. Those who have money among them have resorted to hiring the services of the private security men with other going for the security outfit of the Mallam and the so-called Aboki security guards to ward off these night marauders and burglars who visits when most of the residents are at work. But will it safe them? Your guess is as good as mine.