Umuahia: Police Confirm Case Of Car Battery Theft

The Police in Abia have confirmed increase in reported cases of theft of car battery in Umuahia in recent times.
The command’s spokesman, Mr Nta Ogbonnaya, told The Tide  in Umuahia last  Monday that the command was aware of rising cases of theft of car battery.
He said that his neighbour was a victim, when thieves entered their compound and removed his battery from a parked car.
He urged vehicle owners to instal alarm and other security devices in their vehicles to forestall such incidents as well as car theft in the area.
Ogbonnaya said the menace could be brought under control if communities could set up vigilant groups to support the efforts of security agencies in crime reduction.
“Car battery is not something that one can conceal, so where there are local vigilant groups, it would be possible to apprehend such nocturnal crimes,” he said.
Some residents attributed the increase in stealing of car battery to sharp increase in the prices of new batteries where the cheapest battery sells for N20,000 in Umuahia.
A victim, Mr Johnson Imo, who lives in World Bank Housing Estate, said that hoodlums came in the night and removed the battery from his parked car in front of his residence.
“I only knew when I came out in the morning to warm the car; when there was no light from the dashboard, I opened the bonnet only to discover that the battery had been stolen,” he said.
Another victim, Chief Godwin Udensi, who lives on Ikot-Ekpene Road, said that the hoodlums came into his compound after scaling the perimetre fence on Thursday last week.
He said that the thieves removed the battery in his car and that of his guest.
“It was a horrible experience the following morning, having to cough out about N50, 000 to purchase new batteries for myself and my guest,” he said.
Another resident, Mr Sam Okoro, who lives in Afara, also narrated how a hoodlum entered their compound around 2.30 a.m. and made futile attempts to steal batteries from parked vehicles.
Okoro said the thief scaled through the fence and opened the first vehicle but the owner took the battery in to his house.
He said that the thief also attempted to open the bonnet of another vehicle on the premises to no avail.
“When he failed, he sneaked into the sitting room of my neighbour upstairs because he saw the door open and made away with an Android phone which was being charged,” Okoro said.
The Tide  gathered that residents now remove the batteries from their vehicles for safe-keeping before going to bed as part of measures to check the menace.
The residents also appealed to the police and other security operatives to step up security  to curtail  the menace in the city.
They also called on communities to strengthen their local vigilant groups to check the menace.