I live on a cool street in Lagos,Nigeria. When i say cool, i mean a well-tarred street with streetlights and hardly any issue whatsoever.
Things have changed so I hear. I get to hear Police sirens almost every night and I wonder what happened to my almost-serene street.
Rumours has it that there have been several robberies and killings on the street which made us to become more conscious and cautious.
Fast forward to July 22nd 2017,a friend and I got to witness a robbery.
We were on our way back from church around 11,we were practically jogging because the hour was latewhen suddenly a young lady ran out of a sidestreet shouting 'egba mi o, won ti ji phone mii' which means 'help me,my phone has been stolen.' In a twinkling of an eye we saw two lanky men run out of that street and dash into another sidestreet opposite where they came out from. At first we froze because they practically cut across us but we recovered and continued walking to where the victim stood.
When asked why she gave them her phone instead of screaming for help,she said they threatened to stab her.
Immediately my friend and I heard that,we ran all the way home without looking back.
Shock!! We were in great shock because we could have easily been robbed.
I told my friend that we needed to start going out with pocket knives and possibly pepper spray. I've watched countless movies where people especially ladies used pepper sprays on their attackers and it always worked.
Why am I giving this long epistle???
It's because you and I need to be conscious of whatever environment we find ourselves in.
Whatever legal means we can use in protecting ourselves, let's not forget to use them.
We should also try not to keep late nights and avoid dark areas especially when alone.
We don't have to leave everything to the police, let's cautiously be prepared at all times.