The Rising Tide of Car Theft and Break-ins: Parakin Residents Ululated

Lawal Olanrewaju

The recent surge in car thefts and break-ins in Parakin, a highbrow neighborhood in Ile-Ife, Osun State has left residents and shop owners in a state of heightened anxiety and insecurity. This alarming trend has also disrupted the daily lives of many, raising concerns about the effectiveness of local security measures.

In the last month, specifically on the 29th June, a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was parked in front of a professor’s house, and was audaciously stolen. Worse enough, this incident occurred exactly a month after a shop owner and landlord’s Toyota Camry (Big Daddy) was stolen as the man was refilling a gas cylinder. 

With the occurrences, it is easy to deduct that the rapid succession of these crimes has underscored the growing threat faced by the community. A resident, who requested anonymity, recounted the pervasive nature of theft in the Government Reserved Area (GRA). She lamented on the frequent home burglaries and car thefts, stating that she has even lost count of break-ins. When pressed about the steps taken by the landlord association or security operatives, she expressed frustration, indicating a lack of visible action to address the ongoing issue.

In an interview with the victim of the car theft, he voiced his frustration and anger. The man criticized the landlords and landladies in the GRA for their lax attitude toward addressing the consistent crimes perpetuated in the environment. 

“It is a pity that we have a system that doesn’t care whether or not people are fine. It is exactly a month and some days now since my car was stolen and within the space of 30 days thereabouts, another car theft issue has occurred! Just last week Saturday, 29th of last month, making it a week today, in front of Professor Makinde’s house, an OAU SUV bus was stolen owing to poor security network on this GRA. For me, this is not a GRA because in a GRA, there’s always a strong security network but it’s a pity that the reverse is the case here,” (sic) he stated furiously.

Recalling the details of his car theft, he vividly described how the incident unfolded. 

“It was about time I was ready to leave work, I turned on my ignition just to drive off from my workplace. Because I was pressed, I had to get out of my car to wee a little distance away. As if I was being tracked by this criminal, upon getting down and weeing, he just hurriedly entered the car and drove off. I shouted and attempted to run after him with bike, but there was no sight of any bike men in view owing to the solitary state of our environment. 

“Immediately, I called the police station so that they could track and block all existing routes in and out of Ife, but all efforts were in vain because the police couldn’t track the car as well. Subsequently, some days later, I was told by the police that they had informed all divisional headquarters in the country to keep tracking the car and if any information is gotten in that regard, they would feed me back on it but up until this moment, nothing has been done,” the man pitifully relayed.

The victim, who is also a landlord, attributed the persistent thefts and break-ins to certain landlords and agents who, driven by greed, rent out apartments without adequately vetting tenants. This negligence, he argued, contravenes the established ethos of occupancy in the GRA. He further revealed that since the beginning of the year, at least 12 cars had been stolen, with the OAU SUV bus making it 13. He recounted an incident where he and some landlords, while visiting a fellow landlord, noticed a suspicious individual loitering in the neighborhood. 

"Just a week before my car was stolen, I, in the company of other landlords, decided to visit a fellow landlord in the neighborhood in a friend’s car. We saw a man who was gallivanting around aimlessly, going to and from, tossing back and forth on the street. We were at a distance observing him and thank God we were close to the car, maybe he could have stolen it had we lost focus. The bottom line of what I’m saying is that it’s possible that the criminal element lives here or he/she has an informant who feeds him/her with information here,” he resolutely said. 

Despite the presence of multiple security agencies in the area, including the Navy, Police, Amotekun and DSS, residents and shop owners continue to feel vulnerable. The persistent break-ins and thefts have left many questioning the effectiveness of these security measures. Residents and shop owners are appealing to the government and security operatives for immediate intervention. They urgently seek enhanced security measures to curb the prevalent acts of theft and break-ins that have plagued their community, restoring peace and security to Parakin, Ile-Ife, Osun State.