Petty thieves invade shopping malls

Though most stores have security apparatuses to check theft, the loss of customers’ belongings on the premises of some shopping malls, questions the reliability of the security in place, writes GBENGA ADENIJI

Anybody who goes to a shopping centre with the aim of carrying out a sinister agenda may have a change of mind when he or she reads the notice: “These premises are under 24-hour CCTV surveillance.”

The fear may even increase when one beholds a retinue of smartly-dressed guards frisking customers as they enter and leave the malls.

The kind of internal security available in these shopping malls is also obtainable in banks where it is prohibited to make and receive calls inside the banking halls. At car parks provided for customers in some of the malls, guards are usually seen patrolling every nook and cranny to ward off any attempt by hoodlums to break into any of the vehicles, even though it is sometimes written in bold letters that ‘cars are parked at owners’ risk’.  In some malls, drivers are given a tag which they have to return as they leave the premises. This is also designed to check cases of vehicles being stolen at the malls.

But somehow, eagle-eyed pickpockets and petty thieves have designed ways of escaping the probing eyes of the guards to rob unsuspecting customers. Customers still find out that their valuables are not entirely protected from the prying eyes of thieves.

Past incidences of theft of customers’ valuables at some shopping malls occured while in the queue for payment. A shopper, Mr. Yemi Alenilehin, who spoke with our correspondent at a mall in Ota, Ogun State, said he was always careful not to expose his valuables while shopping, adding however that although he had not witnessed any unpleasant shopping experience, his friend had lost a phone at a mall on Victoria Island.

He said, “I think some of these criminally-minded persons target those who do not concentrate while in the queue to make payment for items bought. There is a tendency to lose concentration, especially when you are chatting with a relative or an acquaintance. It is within that short loss of concentration that the pilferer, who has been waiting for an opportunity, strikes.”

A case of valuables stolen in the queue occurred at a popular mall in Surulere when the police arrested a 27-year-old man, Ahmed Balogun, for allegedly robbing a customer.

The suspect was alleged to have stolen the customer’s BlackBerry phone, driving licence, ATM cards, credit cards and money. He was also accused of using the stolen ATM to withdraw all the money in the victim’s account.

The victim, Ogechi Onyemem, said the suspect stole her phone while she was attempting to pay the cashier at the counter.

She said, “That day, I went shopping with my children and had wanted to pay at the counter. I was distracted by my children for a few seconds, leaving my purse and my phone on the counter. When I turned back, I didn’t see my belongings again. I raised the alarm and accused the cashier of stealing my belongings. I was stranded with no money to pay for the items I wanted to buy and I did not have a phone with which I could call any friend for help. The manager intervened, but I demanded that he showed me the Close Circuit Television footage so we could trace the thief. When we played back the tape, we saw the suspect, in white shirt, take my property, put them in his pocket and then walk away calmly.”

The mother of three further said the accused denied stealing her belongings when he was apprehended until the CCTV was played for him.

“He initially denied stealing my things but when the CCTV tape was shown to him, he confessed that he was able to withdraw money with my ATM card by obtaining my date of birth, which was written on my driving licence and co-incidentally my date of birth happened to be the Personal Identification Number of my ATM card,” she said. The stolen items were later recovered from the suspect.

The CCTV helped Onyemem in her case but that did not seem to be the case for another customer who recently had a nasty experience while shopping at a popular mall in Ibadan.

The customer, Bukola Kehinde, told SUNDAY PUNCH via a letter that she was inside the mall when her Samsung Galaxy tablet was stolen from her bag.

She said, “The phone was stolen from my bag in an unexplainable way. Based on this, I requested for the CCTV footage of my movement in the store from about 2.30pm to 4.15pm when I discovered the theft. This could not be provided as I was told that only my head was captured by the CCTV. I found that unacceptable.”

Though she later said the matter had been resolved, Kehinde added that the BlackBerry Z10 of another customer was stolen in the mall same day.

A journalist, who refused to be named, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was at a small shopping mall recently when a young man was apprehended with a stolen phone.

He said, “I was in the queue with other customers to make payment when a male customer held the hand of a young man behind him that he was the one who stole his missing phone. There was a scene. It was later discovered that his allegation was true because the man confessed that he passed the stolen phone to an accomplice when guards questioned him.”

Speaking on the issue, a criminologist and expert on security matters, Mr. Pedro Ayandokun, advised shoppers not to expose valuables inside their cars. He said such could attract hoodlums to force their way into the vehicle.

According to him, wherever a CCTV is stalled, there must be a warning to show that activities within that area are monitored to make such surveillance legal.

Ayandokun said, “Such notice will serve as a deterrent. There is a dummy CCTV which is mostly installed to deter thieves. The real CCTV can either be video cameras or digital still cameras. There are dome and infrared cameras. The dome is circular and used inside a building. Some CCTVs can turn 45, 90 and 360 degrees. The devices are installed in such a way that they can focus on all the transactions going on where they are installed. There is a monitor and a digital video recorder connected to the CCTV. Since the device is essentially for surveillance purposes, it must be able to detect when a crime is committed unless there is a compromise.”

Stating that a security officer always watches the monitor from a hidden place, he said a good CCTV camera would identify a criminal’s face notwithstanding whether he or she used a hood or not.

He added, “Some criminals use a hood while perpetrating crimes but one of the cameras will focus directly on them. The device covers an individual’s full length unless it is tampered with.”

Ayandokun, who also said many crimes were not reported because some establishments try to avoid police cases, added that a court order could compel a firm to produce CCTV footage.

He further advised shoppers to use an Alert-Mate device to ward off criminals. He explained that the device’s alarm would be set off once it was pulled by anybody.

“The cord will remain tucked in the wearer’s wrist and as the thief runs away with the bag, the alarm will not stop and everybody will know that something is amiss,” he said.

When contacted, spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, however said she had not received any case involving the theft of customers’ valuables in any of the malls across the state.

She said, “I have not received any case concerning the theft of customers’ belongings in any mall.”