Another explosion at Arepo!

The moment I saw this heavy smoke in the direction of Arepo swamp this evening, I suspected something was cooking again.

It's been officially confirmed. There has been yet another pipeline explosion.

It might sound callous, but I have no sympathy for any number of vandals incinerated again. Enough said.

Gambia to switch to 4 day work week

Gambian President,  Yayha Jammeh

 

Gambia is the place to be, men!

A statement broadcast on state radio from the Gambian presidency announced that from February 1, official government working hours will be from Monday to Thursday, from 8am to 6pm.

"Fridays will henceforth become rest and prayer days alongside Saturdays and Sundays," the statement said.

"Schools, banks and all affected institutions are free to work on Saturdays to compensate for the Fridays," it added.

The presidency also said that this new arrangement "will allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture - Going back to the land and grow what we eat and eat what we grow for a healthy and wealthy nation."

The sliver of a country wedged into Senegal which surrounds it on all sides except for a palm-fringed coastline on the Atlantic coast has a population of about 1.8 million and is the smallest country on the African mainland.

Though essentially a secular state, Gambia is 90 percent Sunni Muslim.

 

Five hot phones to have this year



Samsung Galaxy S 4

Possibly the most anticipated handset of 2013, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is coming this year. Most proud owners of Galaxy S3, including yours truly, have not fully explored the resources on the device, and now, its successor beckons.

But seeing how well Samsung Galaxy S 3 has caught on with Nigerians, Galaxy S 4 is bound to make waves here as well.

I mean, it's such a hot cake that I swear I see some boys hawking it in traffic. I'm not making it up. I actually witnessed this at Berger on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway a couple of times, and I wondered who would buy a N90k+ phone in traffic.

I digress. 

Galaxy S 4 will come with a flexible screen, five-inch display, snappier processor and Android Jelly Bean. Get ready!

iPhone 5S/iPhone 6



Leaked picture of the back panel of iPhone 5S, expected soon. A full-on upgrade iPhone 6 is expected much later. I don't expect these phones to make much waves in Nigeria, though. Not with the restrictive marketing strategy of Apple.

                                              BlackBerry 10 touchscreen



Much expected BlackBerry 10 has already been widely trialed, with the next-gen OS and is expected on the shelves soon. A touchscreen phone, touting new multimedia access, improved apps and better typing is expected later.  They should make some impact here. Naija big boys and girls cannot have enough of BlackBerry.

 HTC M7

HTC’s own ‘phablet’ is expected soon. HTC has already released the HTC Butterfly in Japan and the US, but a different five-inch effort, the HTC M7, is expected to be a mind blower.

Features include: full HD display, 4G, quad-core Qualcomm tech and a unibody aluminium design.

                                                        Nokia Lumia 940

The Lumia 940 is for now only a concept, but one with a stunning carbon fibre frame and beefed up screen. I must confess those Nokia Lumia ads on CNN make me wanna have one.

 

It's an exciting year for lovers of smartphones.

 

Commotion at Berger

People gathered around the bus into which the
bloodied body was loaded.

A bit of commotion at Berger Bus Stop on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway inward toll gate when I passed now.

Crowds gathered on either side of the road, looking as police men loaded a bloodied body wrapped in white cloth into the back of a danfo bus (in the picture above). Armed policemen were everywhere. Couldn't wait to find out what's happening, lest I added to the long traffic already building.

Road trap: Police, LASTMA replace muggers at Mile 2

On the eve of Xmas, I wrote about muggers' exploits at Mile Two oke.

Today about 10 am, I passed the same spot and I have both good and bad news. First, the good news: the bad boys are gone from the spot, probably because of what I wrote, or because a powerful person experienced the same thing and organised a police raid.

Now to the bad news: LASTMA officials and police officers are now at the spot, and they are not there to help motorists, sadly. It's their brand new meal ticket.

I was coming from Osodi and wanted to link the bridge that leads to Mile Two Bus Stop below at the emergency ramp created just after where FESTAC buses load. Surprisingly, a LASTMA official and a policeman were rushing at me, but could not quickly cross the road to where I was.

They waved at me to stop. I tried to see the name tag on the LASTMA official, there was none; first red flag. Second red flag: the expressions on their faces were of someone who had just witnessed murder, and could scarcely wait for vehicles to pass to lay his hands on the 'suspect'.

I tried to figure out what I could have done wrong, I couldn’t. But with the red flags, waiting to find out would be a grave mistake. Besides, even genuine LASTMA guys these days are adept at pulling a rabbit out of the hat with uncommon ease. With the newly passed Lagos Traffic Law, you can never be too sure what they have up their sleeves. I waved to them in return and zoomed off. The policeman rushed at me and tried to open my door, but it was locked.

My suspicion is that the guys were after me for taking the emergency ramp, which motorists have taken for ages. It was actually created over a year ago by the authorities as an alternative exit for motorists coming from Osodi and going to Mile 2, Orile, or back to Osodi.

There is usually chaotic traffic at the FESTAC exit, especially with the FESTAC and Okokomaiko-bound buses staying on the road to pick passengers. The ramp has succeeded mainly in improving the driving experience of motorists at that location as people who are not going in the direction of FESTAC or the Mile 2- Badagry Expressway no longer need to contest the main exit with those who are. 

But apparently, those who thought up the smart alternative among the traffic officials have since moved on, leaving behind those who see an opportunity to cash in.

So my advice to you is that when next you are on that route, it’s better you take the FESTAC exit, or you go to Berger to make a u-turn.

Wish you safe motoring

Lawyers refuse to represent Indian gang rape suspects

Thousands of Indian women and men participate in peace march with placards carrying pro-women slogans to Mahatma Gandhi memorial, Rajghat, in New Delhi, India Images: Daily Mail

Accused rapists in a footage by NDTV
 

 

Well, even lawyers  can be repulsed by certain crimes!

Lawyers in India are refusing to represent the suspects arrested in connection with the cruel gang-rape and murder of a medical student in India last December.

The group of Indian men accused of gang raping the 23-year-old woman were arraigned today without representation. The lawyers said they are abstaining to give the case a speedy trial. (Finally some forthright learned friends admit lawyers complicate cases).

 

Five people have been formally charged over the rape and murder of the physiotherapy student, with one named as Ram Singh.

 

Today it emerged a sixth suspect, who is believed to be a juvenile and is expected to be tried separately, was the cruellest of all.

 

According to The Hindustan Times, a police charge sheet reveals in horrendous detail exactly what he is alleged to have done to the unconscious victim - after she had been raped.

 

The newspaper reported that he pulled her intestines out with his bare hands and was also responsible for suggesting that she be thrown naked from the bus.

 

Today her father called for the hanging of those responsible for the attack saying 'the death penalty is compulsory for a crime so great.'

 

The trial will be held in a fast track court and will start on Saturday.

 

'Of all the persons in the bus, two had engaged in the most barbarism - Ram Singh, the main accused in the case, and the juvenile ' said an officer, according to the paper.

 

'Both of them had subjected her to sexual abuse twice. Singh was the first to rape her followed by the juvenile and then Akshay. Later, when she lost consciousness, Singh and the juvenile raped her a second time.'

 

Authorities are waiting for the outcome of a bone marrow test before deciding whether the sixth suspect in the attack will be charged as a juvenile or an adult.

 

The results of the test, intended to determine the suspect's exact age, are expected to arrive soon.

Police plan to ask for the death penalty in the case. The men - the bus driver, his brother and four of their friends - are residents of a south Delhi slum near the site of the attack.

'We have decided that no lawyer will stand up to defend the rape accused as it would be immoral to defend the case.'

 

Criminal lawyer Ajay Digpaul told India Today: 'In my view, it should not take more than 10-15 effective hearings to decide the case as there is plenty of evidence.'

 

Sanjay Kumar, a lawyer and a member of the Saket District Bar Council said that 2,500 advocates registered at the court had decided to stay away to ensure 'speedy justice'.

 

'We have decided that no lawyer will stand up to defend the rape accused as it would be immoral to defend the case,' he said to AFP.

 Her father moved the family to Delhi from a rural part of India in order to improve her chances of realising her ambition of a career in medicine.

 

The dream was cut short on December 16 when she was attacked by six men after as she caught the bus home after going to the cinema to watch The Life of Pi. She died from her injuries on Friday.

 

Fresh details of the case have emerged in the Indian press where it is reported that her attackers tried to throw her under the bus after raping her inside it.

 

India's people have been outraged by the sickening gang rape attack and have taken to the streets all over the country

 

The rape victim died at the weekend after 13-day struggle to survive injuries so severe that the majority of her intestines had to be removed.

 

Confessions of a US traffic cop, lessons for LASTMA

 

Nigerian police officers, LASTMA officials, FRSC men and others involved in road safety and traffic law enforcement have a lot to learn from this American police officer, especially in the area of use of discretion and responsible traffic law enforcement.

Mike Brucks retired from the El Paso Police Department as a traffic cop last May after 22 years and almost 40,000 tickets, by his estimation. He was featured by Yahoo!

 Here are some of his stories from the road and tips for motorists looking to avoid a ticket.

Besides speeding, which is the reason for most tickets, what's most likely to get a traffic cop's attention?

 

Seatbelts, cell phones, red lights, and stop signs. I concentrate on all the things that can cause an accident. There are some cops who write tickets for expired plates, for having no insurance or registration, but you're not going to crash because of any of that. I focused on safety issues—that's what I like to do.

 

Do traffic cops think it's cheating to hide behind billboards?

 

No. You've got a radar detector; you know where we hide. If you are thinking we are hiding somewhere, it's because you're speeding.

 

Do you have favourite hiding places?

 

I stay on the freeway mostly. That's where there are more speeders. I'll park under overpasses, on bridges. I need to be able to start the bike and accelerate to go after someone. If there are a lot of exits, I can miss [a speeder] who can maybe get off at an exit, and then it's too late to catch him.

 

How much leeway do you give someone before writing them a speeding ticket?

 

The speed limit in Texas used to be 60 mph, [and] well, out on the clear road where there's a lot of visibility I give people leeway. I wouldn't write tickets until they got to 80 mph. I've never worked an area where the speed limit drops a lot without warning, what I call a trap. If there's a new speed limit that's lower, it [takes] time for people to get used to it and I don't write tickets there.

 

What can a driver say to get out of a ticket?

 

When someone tells me that a family member has just been sent to the hospital and they're on their way, how can I ticket them for that? I tell them that they're not being safe, that they need to slow down and stay safe. That's about it.

 

I think now it's much more of a rat-race world than it was 30 years ago. The workforce has generated that. People have to be at work on time or risk getting fired, kids have to be picked up and taken places—it's just citizens in a hurry. Ninety-eight percent of the people I stop are law-abiding good citizens, and they say they have no reason to speed. That's an easy ticket. They're not happy, but I could go months without any problems, without anyone cussing me out. I wrote a lot of warnings, too, but it all depends on the situation, if they were being safe.

Are speed limits too low?

 

No, the traffic engineers, at least in Texas, are pretty good. It's not that some parts of the highway are safer for speeding, it's that drivers aren't always paying attention. People die on lonely deserted stretches of road too. There are a lot of times drivers aren't concentrating. They need to understand you're going 100 feet per second on the highway. Above 75 mph things just happen so fast, [whether it's] a flat tire, a coyote, wind, dirt, or rocks. It's not that much better now that cars are safer; reaction times are still the same.

 

What's the toughest ticket you've had to write?

 

I clocked a woman coming down from New Mexico on Highway 54 at 111 mph. She had just been stopped for going 90 mph 15 minutes [earlier] in New Mexico. Everybody has a reason, and I want to know it. I always ask why someone was speeding, and that's just to open things up. I want to know what they're thinking, if they need my help for something. She had been crying, and the tears didn't just start—they'd been going on a long time, you can tell. She was on her way to a motel in El Paso to catch her husband who was shacked up with another woman there, cheating. How do you write a ticket for that?

 

Who's the craziest speeder you've seen?

 

I stopped a guy going 136 mph. I caught him mostly because he thought he lost me. I came up beside him and blocked his front wheel on the curb. The hardest part after that was now I have to be courteous and respectful, although he could have killed someone, and that makes me angry. It's really too bad, he was a good kid, never been in trouble, but now he had to go to jail for felonious evading, and that's really going to wreck his life.

 

When do you not chase a speeder?

 

I clocked a guy on a crotch-rocket bike doing 189 mph. Just let him go. Since police departments began to get sued for chasing speeders, around 1995, there's a fine line. You have to determine if you can catch him, if chasing him will cause an accident for him, for you, for the public. There's no way to catch anyone like that. ..

Playboy founder Hefner marries for third time at 86

Hugh Hefner, with his brand new wife
 

Apparently, this man will be a playboy till he dies.

Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner has reportedly tied the knot for the third time, marrying a former Playmate 60 years his junior in an intimate New Year's Eve ceremony at the Playboy Mansion.

Hefner, 86, and Crystal Harris, 26, announced the nuptials on their Twitter feeds -- @hughhefner and @crystalhefner -- and posted pictures of the wedding.

"Happy New Year from Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Hefner!" Hefner said in a message accompanied by a picture of the octogenarian sporting purple pyjamas and a captain's hat and the blonde Harris in her wedding dress.

Harris posted a picture on her own Twitter feed of the ceremony conducted under an archway of red, pink, purple and white flowers.

"Today is the day I become Mrs Hugh Hefner. Feeling very happy, lucky, and blessed," she tweeted shortly before the wedding.

Hefner and Harris had planned to marry in 2011 but she called off the ceremony at the last minute.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve found in a hamper?

A Christmas hamper and its contents

Happy New Year to you all! May 2013 bring us abundant blessings and unending happiness.

How many hampers have you received so far? And how interesting are the contents?

As a journalist working for a national newspaper many years ago, I recall receiving some odd hampers, like one containing no more than four packets of 'gari ijebu' (cassava flakes) and two-piece 'adire' (tie and die) pyjamas!

I’m not exaggerating. Those were just the two items in the hampers; in addition to a Christmas card, of course. And I loved it, for its novelty.

The 'gari' was factory-processed for export, and was really enjoyable.

The ‘hamper’ was given to me by a professional ‘uncle’, an ijebu man, who was, and still is very passionate about products made by his people. I still have the pyjamas till today.

Beyond unique concepts and themes in hamper-giving, as far as mainstream hampers go, I have come across some real unusual items such as a bottle of Izal, bottles of bleach and, wait for this, toilet cleaners; ewwww!

No strict rules about what can go into a hamper, I guess, but certain items simply don’t blend with the Christmas spirit. It’s better to stick with the concept of food and treats and forget, for the moment, about how people deal with the aftermath of gorging themselves!

Let’s share. What’s the oddest thing you have come across in a hamper?

Stray tyres havoc on Lagos-Ibadan expressway

I've heard stories of stray tyres wreaking havoc on speeding vehicles on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Exressway many times, but have never experienced it.

 

Driving from Berger to Arepo on Friday, I came very close to it.

 

Just a little after Kara bridge, a huge tyre bounced from the median into the Ibadan-bound traffic. It was of the biggest type, and I had no idea if it was rolled by someone or it came off a speeding trailer.

I was probably doing between 80 and 100kph and had barely passed when it actually landed on the fast lane and rolled across the rest of the lanes.

An unfortunate driver collided with it at full speed, smashing the tyre into shreds and wrecking the entire front of the vehicle. But the driver remained calm and managed to let the car coast to a stop. It could have been worse. A wide swerve would have led the driver to lose control, or he could have run into another fast moving vehicle.

The incident serves as a reminder why a motorist should have his two hands firmly on the wheels, especially when doing anything more than 80kph.

At high speeds, when an emergency occurs, such as an unexpected object bounding towards you, you have only nanoseconds to react. Scrambling the second hand to take necessary action may take most of the nanoseconds needed to save the day.

Yes, you sometimes get weary planting both hands on the steering, and yes, it is cool driving with one hand on the steering while planting the second hand on the car window. But an emergency does not serve a prior notice and it could make the difference between life and death.

Roboy, robot househelp to be 'born' in March 2013

An artist impression of Roboy Images and story
from Daily Mail

Engineers behind roboy

Scientists have revealed an ambitious plan to create a humanoid helper robot with artificial muscles - in just nine months.

Engineers at the University of Zurich's Artificial Intelligence Lab hope that 1.2m tall Roboy, designed to look like a child, will eventually help the sick and elderly by acting as a mechanical helper.

To help the robot move, the team are developing radical artificial 'tendons'.

Roboy will have a skeleton similar to a human's and will be operated via special artificial tendons that flex like our own muscles.

The team has already signed up 15 project partners and over 40 engineers, and hope to fund the project using a combination of commercial partners and crowdfunding.

'Financing the project through sponsorship and crowd funding enables us to implement an extremely ambitious project in an academic environment", said Professor Rolf Pfeifer, who is leading the project.

The team hope Roboy will become a blueprint for 'service robots' that work alongside humans.

 'Service robots are machines that are, to a certain extent, able to execute services independently for the convenience of human beings,' the researchers say.

'Since they share their 'living space' with people, userfriendliness and safety are of great importance'.

'Thanks to his construction as a tendon-driven robot modelled on human beings ('normal' robots have their motors in their joints), Roboy moves almost as elegantly as a human,' the team claim.

'Our aging population is making it necessary to keep older people as autonomous as possible for as long as possible, which means caring for aged people is likely to be an important area for the deployment of service robots.

'We can very safely assume that service robots will become part of our environment in the future, as is already the case today for technologies such as smartphones and laptops.'

The team is already developing parts of the Roboy, such as its skeleton like chest which houses spring-like artificial tendons.

Work has also begun on Roboy's hands, which will be covered with a soft 'skin' to make it comfortable to the touch.

'Creating humanoid robots presents researchers with great challenges,' the researchers say.

'Elements such as quick, smooth movements or robust, flexible yet soft skin are difficult to recreate.
'Fundamental new findings are needed for this purpose.

It is precisely through projects like Roboy that innovation is possible.'

Roboy is expected to be 'born' in March 2013, when it will be unveiled at the Robots on Tour event in Zurich.

The lab is seeking donations to fund the work,and is offering to put a logo on the machine for £34,000 ($55,000).

Why you shouldn’t let your kids play with firecrackers

Firecrackers or 'bangers', 'knockouts', banned by the Nigerian police

I’m grateful to God for the part of town I currently reside which is relatively quiet. Elsewhere in Lagos, as in most parts of Nigeria, December is usually a torment for lovers of peace and quiet.

Currently in most parts of Lagos, an infant or an elderly person cannot have sound sleep night or day due to incessant explosions of firecrackers or knock-outs and bangers as they are called in local parlance.

It was established years ago that this annual ritual had become a menace that needed to be stopped. Consequently, the police placed a ban on it years ago, but that has not stopped it.

If it was a menace years ago, it is even more so today when we run our lives on electricity generators and store fuel in our homes, and the country has nearly been hijacked by armed robbers and Boko Haram terrorists who explode real bombs and shoot real guns.

Security is in such a fragile state today that it is unwise to let your children run around throwing bangers.

A child playing with a banger in Isale Eko reportedly caused a warehouse containing explosives to go up in flames on Christmas day. Ten houses were razed; one person was killed, while about 40 others were injured.

This must underscore why you should let your kids amuse themselves with other things apart from a fire cracker, banger, knock-out or whatever else you call it during this festive period.

Wear miniskirts in Swaziland and go to jail

You can no longer wear these. Image: Sowetan

Police in Africa's last absolute monarchy Swaziland have banned women from wearing miniskirts and midriff-revealing tops, saying they provoke rape, local media reported on Monday.

Offenders face a six-month jail term under the ban, which invokes a colonial criminal act dating back to 1889.

"The act of the rapist is made easy, because it would be easy to remove the half-cloth worn by the women," police spokeswoman Wendy Hleta was quoted as saying in the Independent Online news.

The ban also applies to low-rise jeans.

"They will be arrested," she said.

Hleta said women wearing revealing clothing were responsible for assaults or rapes committed against them.

"I have read from the social networks that men and even other women have a tendency of 'undressing people with their eyes'. That becomes easier when the clothes are hugging or are more revealing," Hleta said.

However, the ban does not apply to traditional costumes worn by young women during ceremonies like the annual Reed Dance, where the ruling King Mswati III chooses a wife.

The flamboyant king already has 13 wives.

During the ceremony, beaded traditional skirts worn by young bare-breasted virgins only cover the front, leaving the back exposed. Underwear is not allowed.

The law was enforced after a march by women and young girls last month calling for protection against a spate of rapes in the impoverished kingdom, almost entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Xmas tragedy: LASTMA beats man to death

Popoola, A sympathiser with the deceased wife, Modupe (right). Image: Punch

A 54 year old man left his home early on Christmas eve to hustle for money to celebrate the Yuletide, but did not make it back home alive, thanks to two Lagos Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials.

The commercial bus driver, Isaac Popoola, was allegedly beaten to death while trying to resist impoundment of his bus for yet unknown traffic offences.

The bus conductor, Aremu Salawu, who witnessed the incident, told the Punch that the LASTMA officials, Adesanya Olatunde and Oludele Ogunrinde, assaulted Popoola at about 6.30am around Brown Bus Stop resulting in his death.

He said the deceased’s bus conveying 17 passengers from Igando/Isheri was approaching Brown Junction when a LASTMA pick-up van crossed the bus.

The leader of the LASTMA officials, according to Salawu, ordered two of his men to impound the vehicle and take it to the agency’s office.

Salawu alleged that Olatunde hit Salawu’s head with the metallic head of the seat belt and banged his head against the steering and the door frame of the bus many times while they were both struggling for the steering.

Salawu said, “Baba (Popoola) held on to the steering asking what his offence was. But the LASTMA man (Olatunde) said it was his commander that ordered him to seize the bus.

“When Baba refused to leave the steering, the LASTMA man started hitting Popoola’s head against the steering and the door frame. He did this so many times, until he was unable to talk again.

“I then rushed to Mosafejo Police Station where I made a statement and people who were watching the scenario were able to apprehend one of the LASTMA men (Olatunde). They brought him to the police station before we were transferred to Area F.

Olatunde has been apprehended, while the second LASTMA official is on the run.

Two issues leapt to my mind when I read this story. Why would LASTMA officials struggle for the steering with this elderly man? Since his vehicle had been blocked, why was it necessary or urgent to forcibly subdue him?

Secondly, why was this man not rushed to the hospital immediately by the officials or even the bystanders or sympathizers?

For an incident that happened at 6:30 am, is it not strange that the body of the victim was still available to be snapped by the reporter at the police station at 4pm?

Nigerians have to stop this primitive habit of concluding someone is dead simply because he seems not to be breathing or has no pulse. Elsewhere in the world, people are revived at the hospital after they had seemed to lose their pulses.

That gentleman might be alive now if he had been rushed to the hospital.

 

World’s Tallest Teenager Finds Love

Francinaldo da Silva Carvalho holding hands with his love,
Elisany da Cruz Silva,

Time for a kiss: World's tallest girl, Elisany,
puckers up (down?) to Francinaldo

Current holder of the Guinness record of the world’s tallest teen at 6ft 8in, Elisany da Cruz Silva, 17, has found love.

Elisany is in a relationship with Francinaldo da Silva Carvalho, 22, who stands at 5ft 4in.

And such love comes with a high price – he has to practically stand on his toes and crane his neck to get a kiss.

The construction worker said: “My friends say things like, ‘How do you hug her?’. I say, ‘There’s a way of doing everything’.”

Elisany, an aspiring model from Salinopolis, Brazil, is just an inch taller than Stoke City’s Peter Crouch — she has a form of gigantism due to a tumour on her pituitary gland.

She grew faster than her seven siblings from the age of 11 and hit 6ft 9in when she was 14. But her sudden growth caused pain in her limbs and joints.

Surgeons removed the gland two years ago and she shrank by an inch — but she could still not fit on the school bus and had to quit school due to teasing.

But she’s happy now with Francinaldo. She said: “What really attracted me was his personality, the way he acts with people and the way he acts with me.

“The only thing that really affects us is when we hang out holding hands — it seems like he is my little brother or son.”

Muggers alert at Mile 2!

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?