- Car owners now remove batteries from vehicles parked even at daytime
Before now, and like in every other major town across the country, car/vehicle theft was a commonplace in Osun State. Many residents of Osogbo, the state capital, were robbed and dispossessed of their vehicles in broad daylight and at night.
Before January this year, some residents in the state lost their vehicles to brigands, who specialised in stealing vehicles from where they were parked. Victims and sympathisers had wondered how these car thieves carried out their operations, in spite of the fact that the vehicles were usually locked after being parked.
But lately, a new dimension has been added to the crime wave in the state. There is now a sharp increase in the theft of vehicle batteries! The fear of parking vehicles along the roads in some major towns in Osun is now the beginning of wisdom for many motorists in the state.
I attended an event recently where about four car batteries were carted away from the cars of some of the guests. I was lucky that my car battery was not stolen. These hoodlums often target where many cars are parked before carrying out their nefarious acts
Gangs of hoodlums now go about stealing batteries from vehicles, especially those parked in desolate areas in the state.
Following this surge in battery theft, motorists now ensure more caution before parking their vehicles. Some motorists, it was gathered, now completely remove the batteries from their vehicles during the day and before retiring to bed everyday, even when they are parked in secure places.
Many victims wonder how the thieves make away with car batteries in broad day light, without being caught. Some vigilant motorists now resort to begging residents of a particular area to help them keep an eye on their cars before parking them. And motorists in the state now desist from indiscriminate parking to save them from losing their vehicles’ batteries.
Some of the victims of this ugly development have been trailed to even worship centres as the thieves often storm church and mosque premises in the state to steal car batteries during service. While the thieves break car windscreen to be able to unlock the car bonnet, others use “master keys.”
VICTIMS SPEAK ON ORDEAL
Narrating his ordeal in Osogbo, a motorist, Mr. Babalola Jibola, said his car battery was stolen on a Sunday morning after he parked it along the road.
Another victim, Mr. Seun Akomolafe, who works in a printing press at Fagbewesa area of Osogbo, said his vehicle’s battery and car radio were stolen about two months ago.
The commercial motorists, operating shuttle buses, popularly called “korope”, have suffered most at the hands of the vehicle battery thieves as their vehicles have become their target. Their vehicles’ batteries are constantly stolen.
One of them, who operates within Ilesa town, Mr. Dare Adejumo, claimed to have lost two batteries to the thieves within a short interval.
“Most of the time, I don’t lock my korope after parking it, especially on Fridays, when I want to observe the Jumat prayer. The first incident was on a Friday. After I finished saying my Jumat prayers, I discovered that my car battery had been stolen where I parked. These thieves don’t even respect God. They steal everywhere. I had to borrow money before I could buy another battery. But barely a month after I bought the new battery, it was again stolen,” Adejumo said.
He, however, enjoined security operatives “to do something about this, because it is getting out of hand.”
Another car owner, Gbenga Olarinoye, said, “Though I am not a victim, I attended an event recently, where about four car batteries were carted away from the cars of some of the guests. I was lucky that my car battery was not stolen. These hoodlums often target where many cars are parked before carrying out their nefarious acts. They could even pose as owners of these cars in order for people not to suspect them. Now, everyone is careful before parking their vehicles, especially in areas they do not know people, who would monitor the cars for them.”
CAR OWNERS DEVISE MEANS OF SAFEGUARDING BATTERIES
Owing to this ugly development, and in a bid to beat the thieves in their trade, some motorists in the state now remove their car batteries after parking them at night, while others park their cars at filling stations and other secure premises during the day.
Some motorists, who had fallen victim to the car battery thieves, have alleged that the hoodlums had been selling their stolen wares to battery car chargers at very cheap rates.
BATTERY CHARGERS DENY COMPLICITY
But the Battery Chargers Association in the state said they had stopped buying second hand or used batteries ever since the cases of battery theft increased, adding that most of their members had been robbed of their customers’ car batteries kept in their custody.
Speaking for the association, at 28, MDS area of Olaiya in Osogbo, Mr. Suleiman Adeyemi, denied that battery chargers had been responsible for the thefts, saying the association had even been praying against the trend that had been given them a bad name.
POLICE ASSURES RESIDENTS OF SAFETY
Meanwhile, the police in the state have assured residents of its readiness to rid the state of criminal activities.
Speaking while parading some suspects at the Police headquarters in Osogbo, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. fimihan Adeoye, said the command would not rest on its oars in ensuring that the state became crime-free.
When our correspondent contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, on the telephone on the rising car battery theft, she did not pick her calls.
