CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
A visit to Computer village in Ikeja, Lagos where phones, laptops and other accessories are sold gives a visitor the picture of a very structured place. But there seems to be an influx of criminals who masquerade as genuine traders to commit all manners of crimes in the market.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that this was confirmed following the terrible experiences many customers had in the past from the alleged criminal elements in the market. It appeared that the leadership of the associations in the market were getting overwhelmed because the number of hoodlums there kept increasing by the day and giving bad image to genuine traders. Apart from the defrauding innocent customers by selling bad phones and laptops they popularly called “Kpalasa”, it was alleged that criminals use the place as cover, where they stay in the day time before they move out in the night.
Some of the victims narrated their experience in the market and some swore never to step their feet in the market again. One Mrs Victoria Nwoke said she bought an Infinix phone and went to the market to download music and other kinds of softwares, but unfortunately she did not return home with the phone.
She narrated how a man approached and directed her to a place where she will download the softwares and she handed him the phone and sat there. She said she sat there waiting from 10am till 5 pm before one of them told her that she has lost the phone and that it was better she made her way home.
Nwoke said she went home in pains, dejected and swore not to go to the market again.
It was the same sad experience but slightly different for James Edison who said he was directed to the market to buy phones at affordable prices not knowing he will meet with the hoodlums parading as genuine traders.
He said he bought three Samsung phones and one Tecno phone and they were all tested before him and were working before he paid N35,000 each and N20,000 for the Tecno and went home thereafter.
Edison said when he brought out the phones at home, put them on, but they were no longer working and he tried all he could to no avail. He said when he went back to the market the next day, they could not identify the seller and did not see him again. “I was told that I bought kpalasa going by the prices I bought the phones” he said.
Some of the victims narrated different experiences on how they were defrauded and they became helpless in the market.Mrs Sherifat Badmos said she took her laptop to the market for minor repair but she ended up losing it to the person who claimed to be a computer engineer. She said the so called engineer scattered the whole thing and was demanding more money than the amount she bought the laptop, she left it and bought another one.
P.M.EXPRESS gathered that stolen phones and laptops were easily sold in as much as the thieves brought them to the market unhindered. Some of the traders at the market who did not want their names to be mentioned for security reasons said there were really genuine traders despite the increasing number of criminals who hang around the market to commit various crimes. Some claimed that it was the leadership of the market that appeared compromised.
One of the traders said he felt it all started during the period there was crisis in the market. That it appeared some of the criminals assisted some of the leaders and when peace returned, it became difficult to chase them away and the situation was affecting their image.
“Even the big men among us are paying royalty to the criminals for their protection” he revealed.
Another set of traders said some of the customers have dubious minds and came to the market to buy stolen phones. And some times such customers may succeed and at other times get duped and they will complain to high heavens.
Efforts to speak with the leadership of the market proved abortive as the chairman was said not to be around when P.M.EXPRESS visited the market.
However, sources within the executive said that they were putting several measures in place to check and stop the activities of the hoodlums and corrected the impression of complicity.
He went forward to point out their collaboration with the security agencies in fishing out the bad eggs operating in the market. He also mentioned that recently they also had a collaboration with Fonreg to be able to track stolen phones. He said customers should also desist from patronising people hanging on the streets and endeavour to buy products from shops, obtain receipts and identity of sellers for easy tracking.