Curtains of Fear: How keke tarpaulins hide robbers, rapists in Warri, Effurun
•Women carrying Babies, a trap to fool passengers
•Delta PPRO calls for vigilance
By Jimitota Onoyume, Assistant News Editor
The tarpaulins constructed in several commercial keke to shield passengers from rain have turned into curtains of fear in the twin cities of Warri and Effurun, Delta state. Crimes take place inside the Keke with the tarpaulin providing a shield for the criminals when they are drawn.
A victim , Agnes said she boarded a Keke at Effurun roundabout to Okuoko around 8pm. She was at the back with two other passengers. A few meters after the DSC roundabout one of those on the backseat brought out a knife probably hidden in his pocket , stabbed her in the leg, snatched her bag and pushed her out. She said she had over a hundred thousand naira for her POS business in the bag, adding that she was sure the Keke thieves knew her because her POS stand was at the Effurun roundabout where she joined the Keke.
“I joined a Keke at the Effurun roundabout to Okuoko at about 8pm that day. I sat with two other passengers at the back seat. It was a smooth trip until we got close to Okuoko. One of the passengers brought out a knife and ordered me to bring out the money on me. Before I could say anything the young man stabbed me on my leg, snatched my bag and pushed me out “, she narrated.
Oga Philip’s experience was gentler but equally troubling. He joined a commercial Keke from Deco road to Enerhen junction. He noticed that a girl was in the Keke, this made him relaxed . And he sat at the back seat where the young girl was with another passenger.
Barely two minutes later the driver pleaded with him to help tie the tarpaulin on the door at the back to the roof. As he raised both hands, the girl beside him slipped out his wallet. He only discovered that his wallet was missing after he had alighted . Fortunately for him, the Keke was still in sight .He chased them with another Keke to recover his wallet but the N800 in it was stolen , though his driver’s licence was intact. He said “ I saw a girl and one other young man in the back seat . I sat close to the entry point and the girl was in the middle. At some point the driver of the Keke pleaded with me to help tie the tarpaulin stronger to the roof top of the Keke by the exit point. I didn’t understand why he wanted me to do it because it was not disturbing the view of passengers at the back seat.
“But he persisted , pleading . So I used my two hands to lift the tarpaulin to tie it. I didn’t know that the girl sitting close to me was dragging my wallet when I lifted my hands up to tie the stuff. The driver kept saying I should tie it stronger please. He was seeing the girl from the rear mirror. As soon as he was sure the girl had pulled out the wallet from my pocket then he announced that we were at Enerhen junction where I said I was stopping. He thanked me as I came down.
“As I often do, my left hand went for my trouser pocket on the left and I didn’t see my wallet, quickly I started shouting ,” stop that Keke, thief ,thief”, I jumped into a Keke and told the driver to chase the Keke in front . They saw that we were close and they quickly packed , handed me my wallet and said they saw it fell on the seat after I came down . They drove off immediately before I could check its content. Well! They had removed the eight hundred naira in it. My driver’s licence was intact. I thank God “, he said
Another passenger, Onome refused to surrender his phone to some thieves in the Keke he boarded at Refinery junction to Jakpa junction on the Warri – Sapele road. According to him, a knife-wielding passenger demanded for his phone . Instinctively Onome said he rained blows at the driver from his backseat, sending the Keke crashing into a median. The armed man fell out; youths helped him apprehend the driver when he started shouting “ thief, thief “. The two other accomplices escaped but one was later caught .
“I was ready to suffer some injuries rather than give them my phone. I quickly dealt the driver a blow and that made the Keke lose balance and the guy with the knife fell off. I held the driver and kept shouting thief, thief , till other youths in the area joined me to arrest the driver . His accomplice, the girl and the guy with a knife fled. The boys caught the guy with the knife as he was running. The girl was lucky because they didn’t know immediately that she was one of them. They showed them a little love ( beating ) before the police came “, he said.
Commuters said sometimes these Keke thieves also use women carrying babies in the Keke to lure passengers into a false sense of safety. According to Sandra, a newspaper vendor , “ The woman carrying the baby is with them. They use her to walk on the psychology of the innocent passengers to feel that the Keke is safe”.
Vanguard gathered that suspected criminal Keke riders avoided designated loading points, picking passengers from the roadside where no one can identify them. Also that some female passengers have reportedly been sexually assaulted after the curtains were drawn.
Youths who have assisted to arrest some of the thieves said they rarely knew what happened next. “ I have been involved in arresting some.of the thieves and handed them over to the police . But we did not follow up to know how the matters ended at the Police station”, Kelvin said.
A passenger, Patrick , said his strategy to neutralize the Keke thieves was to suddenly tell the rider to stop whenever he felt unsafe in a Keke . “ Whenever I felt unsafe I just told the rider to stop me at any nearest place with a large gathering of people or near police checkpoints . Then I boarded another Keke . The difference in the transport may not be more than a hundred naira I would pay”. The Delta state Police Public Relations Officer SP Bright Edafe has advised passengers to be vigilant.
Honestly, vigilance and silent prayers are the twin rules before entering any commercial Keke in the twin cities of Warri and Effurun.
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