Be extra careful at Mile 2, Lagos, during this festive period. Desperate boys are on the prowl.
About 3pm yesterday, at the traffic bottleneck caused by deep pot-holes at Mile 2 Oke, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, precisely at the point where vehicles coming from Oshodi link the bridge that curves into Mile 2 Bus Stop below, a young man suddenly grabbed hold of my driver side mirror and spoke in a menacing voice to give him money quickly, or he would damage my car.
Sensing I wasn’t taking him serious, he shouted to some accomplice behind my car (real or imaginary, I did not look to find out) to deflate my tyres and smash the windows.
The suddenness of it all was unsettling. But I’m blessed with a calm look that does not betray the emotions I feel inside most of the time.
I carried on driving and conversing with my petrified sister-in-law in the driver seat, while mentally considering my options. All around, everybody faced their wheels. It was a typical Lagos scene, everyone for himself and God for us all.
The boy tugged on the mirror to convince me he meant business as I drove on. He tagged along a while before deciding to call it quits.
It was my first time of encountering this sort of incident in that area, even though I pass there fairly regularly. But then, the deep pot-holes that now adorn this stretch of the busy expressway have not always been there. They have steadily emerged over the past six months and hoodlums have now realised they can actually profit from the situation.
If they could do that in broad daylight, imagine what they can do in the dark.
As you drive around this festive period, bear in mind the advice to never leave any valuable thing in sight in your car.
If a smartphone, a laptop or iPad had been lying by the gear or on the back seat, that silly boy would have smashed the car window, grabbed it and dashed into the traffic. Would you chase him?
