Pick Pockets Relocate From Bus Stop

Commuters and traders at Mararaba bus stop in Nasarawa, have breathed a sigh of relief following the sudden disappearance of pick pockets in the area.

An investigation carried out by our correspondent recently showed that the traffic hold-ups witnessed in the early hours of the day, as a result of the activities of hoodlums at the bus stop had subsided.

Mr Njoku Uwalaka, a road side trader at the bus stop, told newsmen “I am happy that the notorious incident of pick pockets at this bus stop, have reduced considerably.’’

“The regular complaints of handset, hand-bag and wallet snatching have not been so rampant for about two months now. In fact, it is a brand new turn of events.

“For some few years, I have been operating here, there have been rampant cases of hand sets, hand bags and wallets snatching by hoodlums at this bus stop, and that gave this place a very bad name anywhere you go.

He said that for about two months now “we have heaved a sigh of relief because the frequent lamentations by commuters and our customers have subsided”.

Uwalaka noted that the experience was as a result of the presence of policemen positioned at the spot every morning and evening, as they always monitor the movement of people at those peak periods.

“I want to believe that the situation would be sustained and even improved upon by the police to bring sanity to this Mararaba bus stop in particular,” he said.

Mr Nelson Emmanuel, a commercial bus operator, told newsmen at the bus stop that his passengers lost handsets to the pickpockets in April.

“The hoodlums, who always pose as commuters, snatched the handsets at hold-ups through the window of the vehicle and disappeared.

“We are now happy, because in the past one month, the situation has changed since the police have been taking positions at this bus stop to check the menace,” he said.

On the contrary, Miss Favour Okorie, a student of Nasarawa State University, Lafia, was of the opinion that the situation has not changed as “the pick pockets are still around.”

“Just last week, I was coming with a bike from Ado to this bus stop, I didn’t know that one boy was pursuing me, it was when I got down, I noticed that the boy was after me to snatch my handset.

“I quickly changed the position of my handset, so as he couldn’t reach me again, he changed direction and moved away.

Okorie said that another experience she had was when she arrived the bus stop under the pedestrian bridge that same week, two men attempted to snatch her hand