Nuggets To Avoid Trouble From The Law

Douglas Ogbankwa

It is so easy to stay out of trouble, but difficult to come out of it. In this life doing things to the minutes details plays a big role in keeping you out of trouble. The following are time tested tips to avoid trouble in the New Year:

1. Do not offer lift to anybody at night, for any reason whatsoever. They could be armed robbers or kidnappers;

2. If you were robbed and any of your property is taken away by the robbers, you should report the incidence within minutes at the Police Station, because if the robbers are caught and your property is found with them, without your report in the Police Station recorded, you will be deemed to be part of the robbers;

3. Do not buy used phones or laptops, except you are buying from a known friend and you have ascertained that he was the previous user, as it could be a product of armed robbery or kidnapping. If so and you were arrested, you will be dealing with a case of armed robbery or kidnapping. Also, do not buy vehicles from vendors until you check the registration details at the National Vehicles Registration Database to know the actual owners or you ascertain that the Customs Papers are genuine, it could be stolen, robbed vehicles or a product of a kidnapping operation;

4. Do not leave Credit Alerts on your phone delete them immediately because if the bad boys see them, it could increase your value for ransome;

5. Do not disclose your location online, it could make you an easy targets for assailants;

6. Do not give anybody no matter how close your phone or sim to make calls or allow people to put their sims in your phone to make calls, instead offer them airtime or your battery. They could use your phone or sim to make implicating calls, including demanding for ransome or threatening to kidnap, making you a target of arrest, while they become invincible;

7. Do not respond to strange persons telling you about NNPC Contract, PHCN Contract, or errors in your accounts, they are fraudsters. Do not respond to strange messages about WhatsApp Meetings by Phantom Admins. Do not read to anybody any pin sent to your phone for WhatsApp Meetings, as your WhatsApp will be hacked automatically as you are reading the pin;

8. Do not ever stay in the midst of a mob because if a murder occurs, every one in the mob is a suspect;

9. Always watch your rear glass while driving to ascertain if you are being trailed. If yes, drive to the nearest Police Station;

10. When flagged down by security agencies  be calm, polite and communicate with them in good English. It helps. If at night, put on your inner lights before you approach them. It shows you have nothing to hide;

11. Do not allow anybody to use your account or email for a third part transaction and do not transfer money for people indiscriminately. You could become a part of a massive fraud;

12. Do not use ATMs at remote places at night. When operating a POS Point and the money subject of the transaction is much, request for a verified phone number of the customer, the verified account number of the customer and an official ID Card. Many at times, they take kidnapped and robbed victims’ ATMs to withdraw all their money. If you do not have these details during police investigations, you will be deemed to be part of syndicate;

13. Do not use an ATM Machine that shows Microsoft Error or any other error covering the screen, it may have been programmed by Yahoo Boys. Do not leave your 14 digit ATM exposed to unknown people, they could memorise the 14 digits in seconds and use same to do only transactions;

14. Do not give testimonies in church with details of you making money or acquiring priced assets. You may acquire a kidnapping value. The Church is a mixed crowd;

15. Keep details of your financial dealings away from your domestic staff and security staff. They could be informants to kidnappers of armed robbers;

16. If you had Security Details, be careful what you say or do in their presence ,they are also with you to spy on you;

17. If you worked in a Government Body or Multinational, be careful what you relate to your colleagues. Government has spies in every Government Body and Major Company in Nigeria;

18. Be careful what you say on the phone, write on text and social media messages, every conversation is monitored;

19. Always keep your outside light on and the light inside off when sleeping, it confuses robbers and other assailants. Always have airtime or data on your phone at night, it could save your life in times of an attack so you can reach out for help;

20. Be careful what you communicate on messenger, WhatsApp, or phone calls. They could easily be used as evidence against you. If wanted to make a classified communication, do it by WhatsApp calls .It can not be recorded as it is an encrypted end to end communication;

22. Read documents very well before you sign. You are bound by what you sign. Do not allow any police man or security agency force you to make any statements. Insist on seeing your Lawyer. By the New Law -ACJL, they will oblige you. Never make a statement for any reason that will implicate you, you could be on your way to jail;

Always have enough credit on your phone before sleeping. Never sleep without airtime on your phone and you must have the Police Control Room Number of your state and call first to be sure. That number can save your life and I tell you it works like magic.

Effective Use of the Nigeria Police Control Rooms :

a. You introduce yourself and explain your situation very briefly, which you must make look like a real emergency!

b. You must create by your call an urgency, that requires a swift and instant intervention of a Police Patrol Team and I assure you the Police will respond immediately, as there are punitive measures against not doing so, especially when something goes wrong.

c. Ensure that you give a vivid description of your address and be patient with the Control Room Operators, ensuring that you follow up on them with subsequent calls !

d. The following are the Nigeria Police Control Room Numbers in each State of the Federation.

S/No. State Command Police Control Phone Numbers:

1 ABIA 08035415408 08079210003 08079210004 08079210005

2 ADAMAWA 08089671313

3 AKWA IBOM 08039213071 08020913810

4 ANAMBRA 07039194332 08024922772 08075390511 08182951257

5 BAUCHI 08151849417 08127162434 08084763669 08073794920

6 BAYELSA 07034578208

7 BENUE 08066006475, 08053039936, 07075390677

8 BORNO 08068075581, 08036071667, 08123823322

9 CROSS RIVER 08133568456, 07053355415

10 DELTA 08036684974

11 EBONYI 07064515001, 08125273721, 08084704673

12 EDO 08037646272, 08077773721, 08067551618

13 EKITI 08062335577, 07089310359

14 ENUGU 08032003702, 08075390883, 08086671202

15 FCT ABUJA 07057337653, 08061581938, 08032003913

16 GOMBE 08150567771, 08151855014

17 IMO 08034773600, 08037037283

18 JIGAWA 08075391069, 07089846285, 08123821598

19 KADUNA 08123822284

20 KANO 08032419754, 08123821575, 064977004, 064977005

21 KATSINA 08075391255, 08075391250

22 KEBBI 08038797644,08075391307

23 KOGI 08075391335, 07038329084

24 KWARA 07032069501, 08125275046

25 LAGOS 07055462708, 08035963919

26 NASARAWA 08123821571, 07075391560

27 NIGER 08081777498, 08127185198

28 OGUN 08032136765, 08081770416

29 ONDO 07034313903, 08075391808

30 OSUN 08075872433, 08039537995, 08123823981

31 OYO 08081768614, 08150777888

32 PLATEAU 08126375938, 08075391844, 08038907662

33 RIVERS 08032003514, 08073777717

34 SOKOTO 07068848035, 08075391943

35 TARABA 08140089863, 08073260267

36 YOBE 07039301585, 08035067570

37 ZAMFARA 08106580123

Best regards.

About the Author:

Douglas Ogbankwa Esq., @ Douglasogbankwa@gmail.com

A Lawyer, Writer and Policy Analyst is the Convener of the Security Situation Room.