By Sunday Ani ([email protected]) and Perpetua Egesimba ([email protected])
“We didn’t even know that we were living with lions. They play with us; they come to fetch water opposite my house. We know them very well, but we didn’t know that, that was what they were doing in that compound. We only see two of them around. One is dark and the other is fair. They greet us very well. We didn’t know they were lions.”
These were the words of a woman, living close to the den where the kidnapper king of Nigeria, Mr. Chukwudumeje Onwuamadike, alias Evans, kept his victims at New Igando, Lagos. For years and without the knowledge of neighbours, Evans housed some of his victims at 21, Prophet Asaye Street, Igando, Lagos. The gate of the house has an inscription: ‘Jesus is Alive.’
Evans also maintained two other dens in Lagos while he lived in a mansion at 3, Fred Shoboye Street, Magodo. Until he was busted recently by the police, his neighbours did not know that he lived in their midst and kept his victims in the neighbourhood. Neighbours were palpably shocked to learn that the notorious kidnapper was one of their own. And the development reinforced the saying that criminals are not spirits. They live with the people, eat with them and generally interacted with them
In the beginning, knowing one’s neighbours and what they did for a living wasn’t a big deal. People interacted and minded other people’s business. But this is no longer the case.
With rapid urbanisation, times have changed, especially in big cities like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano, among others where dwellers can live with their neighbours in estates for over decades without knowing who they are and what they do for a living. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to leave the house when they wake up in the morning and return late at night.
Daily Sun investigation on how well Nigerians know their neighbours is thought provoking. It was discovered that some landlords don’t even know their tenants let alone knowing what they do for a living. Some neighbours fear to disclose their jobs to their next-door neighbours, believing that they might not be happy with their progress. Some estates don’t even have neighborhood watch or security in place.
For 30-year old Amaka Ekwedike, who resides in Iyana Oworo area of Lagos, it is only a nosy person that would want to know what his or her next-door neighbour does for a living. She said: “I don’t see how knowing who my neighbour is or what he or she does can put food on my table. I am a very busy person. I wake as early as 5:00am to get ready for work because I work at Lagos Island and I have to beat traffic. I come back about 10:00pm. When will I have time to go and start snooping to know who lives next to me? I know it is good to know people living around us because of the security situation in the country but it is not everybody that has the time.”
According to her, she has lived in the area for three years and only knows that the person living next to her flat is a middle age man with whom she exchanges greetings.
Gospel music artiste, Shalom Amaechi, who lives in Aviation Estate, Airport Road, Lagos, argued that if someone is not very close to their neighbours or if the business they are into is not legitimate, they are likely not to open up to their neighbours.
According to him, he knows just two of his neighbours that live close to him and can vouch that they are doing legitimate jobs.
Amaechi said: “Apart from the two houses close to where I live, I can’t tell you that I know the rest or what they do. However, you know there is no how you will know the in and out of a person 100%, even if they are your friends. For instance, you can only be able to say that this person works with this company or he or she goes out at certain time and comes back at certain time. If there is any other thing the person does, you may not be able to know.
“For instance, in the case of Evans, the wife alleged that she thought her husband was doing a legitimate job while it turned out to be a lie. I can only say what I know and see not the in and out of my neighbour because I am a human being.”
He added that people should be careful on how they go about snooping around their neighbors because of the case of Evans, as it is very dangerous to do so. He added that it is the work of security agencies to secure lives and fish out the Evans in our midst.
Amaechi said as an individual or a neighbour, he has little to do where insecurity is concern. “It is dangerous to start poke nosing into people’s affairs. Let’s take people like Evans the kidnapper as an example. He has gangs, boys that work for him. It will only take that kind of person just a phone call to eliminate anybody that had found out what he does or tries to snoop around his compound.
“It is the government that will go after that kind of people. So, I will say that I have little or nothing to investigate about those rich men that live in the estate that do illegal business because I am not protected. By the way, who would see a man that lives in that kind of house and start questioning him about what he does? Let the security agencies do their job and not ask Nigerians to do it for them. If they want to know people, there are ways to find out.
“The other night, we had armed robbery attack in this estate and it was the security men around that raised the alarm and they jumped through the fence. If the government is doing enough, we won’t be scared and be shouting armed robbers in this 21st century.”
An Ejigbo resident, Onuoha Ikenna, explained that when it comes to knowing one’s neighbour, only a few people could give full details of their neighbours, as not many have good relationship with their co- tenants.
He said: “Knowing one’s neighbour depends on the kind of neighbours you have around you. For instance, where I live presently, I know all my neighbours, where they come from, the kind of business they are into and even their family members. I make out time to visit their villages and their parents because we have good relationship unlike where I lived before. So, I can tell you that I am proud of my neighbours and can defend them unless there are secret businesses that they do that I am not aware of.”
According to him, why people tend to mind their business in Lagos is because of the saying that Lagos is no man’s land, everyone on his own.
To curtail criminal activities, he said: “The government should organise some agencies that will move around to know what people are doing for a living, by collecting their data.”
A landlord in the Oshodi area of Lagos, who identified himself simply, as Salawu urged landlords to endeavour to know their tenants, as it will help to know the kind of people who live in their houses, not just giving out their houses without caring about the security of other people in that area.
“I can tell you that I know each and every one of my tenants and the number of people in my building. But I can’t say for a fact that I know what each and every one of them does for a living. Maybe it is because I don’t live here with them. But it is paramount for a landlord to know because it will help to know the kind of people you have in your compound,” he said.
Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Okey Ozumba, explained that there was no law in place that said people must disclose their identity or jobs to their co-tenants or their landlords except the tenancy agreement law where a prospective tenant is expected to fill his or her data in a form. He said that the landlord must be able to give out a form, which is called the data form, indicating to know who the person coming to live on the property is, where the person is coming from, where they work, where he has lived before, his telephone numbers and then do a little research on the person.
He further said that even after filling and signing the form, upon possession of the said property, there are clauses that might prevent a landlord from knowing what the tenant does within the property.
Take this from Ozumba: “There are impediments to knowing the activities of your tenants. If you look at the tenancy agreement, when you sign it, it allows you for what we call quiet enjoyment of the place and even the landlord is not supposed to come into your house except you write him. He has to give you a notification that he is coming to visit you to enable you allow him to come in.
“These are checks and balances because constitution wise, you cannot stop your neighbours or tenants and start asking them questions or go into their houses to ask them what they are doing and how they live in their houses.”
On how to curb nefarious activities around us and why people decide to keep to themselves, he stated that the present society cared less about their next-door neighbour. He added that it was very necessary for everybody living in any neighbourhood to be made to know what the person living next to them does.
“That is why there is a need for a neighborhood watch and the need for landlords in the same streets to have meetings, like the Landlord Associations and Tenant Associations. That is the only way for you to know what your neighbour is doing that will enable you to know who your neighbour is or who he is not.
Ozumba noted that “discovering your neighbour’s crime from mere friendship point of view is very difficult. Where Evans lives is a highbrow area and nobody knows the other person and nobody cares to know. For you to acquire a property of over N100 million, nobody will suspect that you are a criminal because armed robbers don’t have that kind of money. They are known for living in hotels and spending their money on women and probably buying cars. The only thing that remains constant is that their lives are usually short. But this guy was always conscious of how to beat security men.”
The Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Aviation Estate, Airport Road, Lagos, Mr. Benny, said: “I cannot say for a fact that I know every resident or the occupation of every resident of this estate. However, it is difficult for security officials to know that kind of information and it depends on the size of the estate. If the estate is very large, the security officials might not know every resident; they might know only few, like about eight per cent of the residents.
“Although the size of this estate is not that big but I can tell you that I know, at least, about 90% of the members of my estate and I know what they do for a living. You cannot say 100% because sometimes, some of them may be moving out and other people moving in and before you know the people moving in, it may take you a while. We hold meetings in this estate, it’s also a way of knowing who our neighbours are and what they do for a living.”
Mr. Livinus Eze, who lives in Queen’s Park Estate, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said: “The truth is that this is a developed world and sometimes you may not see your neighbour for one week. Most often, when you see your neighbour, you only exchange greetings. In my own case, my family and I are beginning to know some people that live around us just because we bake bread and they come around to buy. So, through that means, we are getting to know some of them otherwise, there is nothing like being close with those who live in our neighbourhood. For instance, in my estate, I only know the man that lives opposite my house. In summary, I don’t know what happens in my neighbour’s house.”
He also said that the resident association in the area, in which he is a strong member, is making concerted efforts to identify the residents or strangers to the estate. He said: “We have a residents association in my estate and the association is very doing everything possible to ensure that members of the estate are properly identified. We have security guards, who help us to monitor strangers. However, we don’t care as to what individuals who live in the estate do for a living. I know of people who are building houses everywhere in the estate but nobody knows what they do for a living and nobody is interested to know their means of livelihood. It is only when a person is caught for one crime or another that we know the person is a criminal but we don’t go to somebody’s house to ask what the person does for a living.”
Mrs. Chinyere Anokwuru, who lives in Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos, said: “I know my neighbours very well. I take my time to find out who they are. I do my findings because I want to know who is living beside me, above me and everywhere around me. In fact, I know my neighbours very well.”
Asked what informed her decision to know her neighbours, as she claimed, she said: “It is a habit I cultivated over time because when you have children at home and you go out for work every day, you would naturally want to know who is around within that premises. You would want to know who your kids are likely to talk to. I get to know the other families in my neighbourhood through their children. I do that not necessarily for my own sake but for the sake of my children.”
Mr. Chidiebere Eze lives at Trans-Ekulu area in Enugu. He thinks that the economic realities in the country do not give one the opportunity to know his environment very well. He said: “Actually, the economic situation in the country has not given room for people to really study their environment, as they should. For instance, I leave my house by 6:00am every day and come back about 7:00pm and sometimes by 9:00pm. And once I get back, I go to bed, only to rise up early in the morning the next day and leave for work again. I only have the environmental days to look around and see one or two people in my neighbourhood. So, apart from people who live in the rural areas where they know themselves, I want to tell you that the only person who can know his/her neighbour is a person who is idle. The truth of the matter is that most Nigerians hardly know their neighbours. That is the reality.”
He argued that even with the existence of residents association in his area, many people still do not want to identify with others.
Mr. Tony Onwuzuo, who lives in Alakija/Satellite Town in Lagos, said that he could not say what most of his neighbours do for a living, even though he might know some of them. However, he appreciates the necessity to know his neighbours very well, saying: “I know it is necessary to know what your neighbours do for a living so that if anything happens and you are asked about them, you will be able to say something about them. But, there is no time to know neighbours.”
He also stated that the residents association in his neighbourhoods had taken steps in time past to know members in the area. He said: “Some time last year, the resident association in my area went from one house to another to know who and who were living in each flat; how many people live there and their names. Even though, the exercise was done for security purposes, it did not include trying to know what people do for a living.”
Chief Ade Owas, who is president of Amuwo Odofin Landlords/Residents Association, Mile 2, Lagos, described residents in the estate as peace-loving but lamented that the geographical location of the estate had made it impossible for people to really know who their neighbours are in the true sense of it. He said: “The geographical location of the estate has made it porous and impossible to checkmate who comes in or goes out. We don’t have perimeter fence and it is only when that happens that you can check the influx of people into the estate. A situation where you have many entrances, in which case people can enter into the estate from anywhere, makes it hard to control people or know the people very well.”
On his efforts as the president of landlords/residents association to ensure that residents know their neighbours and become security conscious, he said: “I have earlier said that the location of the estate does not support one knowing his neighbours. Different people come into the estate without let or hindrance and in such situation, it becomes very hard to know who is who. However, our efforts in the past to bring a police post in the estate were frustrated by some elements in the estate.”
Mr. Simeon Ene, who lives on Old Ojo Road, Lagos, said: “I know some of my neighbours but I don’t know what they do for a living. However, I know what a few of them do for a living like those who are businessmen and salary earners. In short, I try as much as possible to know my neighbours because sometimes, we do have street meetings and during such event, I try to know the people I never knew before.”
Why does he always want to know those that live around him? He said: “I think it is necessary because there could be an emergency and you may need their assistance. In my area, we don’t have anything like residents association but we come together once in a while during the street meeting. Personally, the only effort I can say I make to know my neighbour is when we have street get-to-gather. During such gathering, we associate, exchange phone numbers and chat thereafter and from there, I know a couple of them.”
Mr. Innocet Mama, a resident of Ayekatan area of Lagos said: “To some extent I know my neighbours. I know, at least, 80 per cent of the people I live with in the same compound because we interact on regular basis. But, when you talk of neighbours outside the ones in the same compound with me, I don’t know much about them, particularly what they do for a living. We are in a complex city where people are always in haste. Somebody can tell you that he is into business and he goes out in the morning and comes back in the evening but you may not know the kind of business he does. You only assume that he is a businessman as he told you.”
Does he think it is necessary to know his neighbours? He said: “It is necessary because of the situation on ground. Recently, we have been having series of security challenges, otherwise before now, what your neighbour does for a living is none of your business. You have no reason to inquire into the person’s life, but following the prevailing security situation in the country, it has become very necessary to know what your neighbours do for a living for security purposes.”
Mr. Diran Balogun of Agarawu community in Isale-Eko, Lagos Island, said: “My people are law-abiding; they are business oriented people. They are all keen about moneymaking and they have a very decent way of making money. The nature of the community is such that you may not know your neighbour as such because people from all tribes in Nigeria are here, doing one thing or another.
“But the Community Development Association (CDA) here recently embarked on the mission to know the people living in the neighbourhoods because of the hoodlums in the area who cause trouble here and there. Even in this month of Ramadan, we are still experiencing the activities of the hoodlums. So, the CDA is tackling that; they are trying to know the people in the neighbourhood.”
Mr. Kevin Abonyi, who lives in the Alapere area of Ketu in Lagos said: “I don’t know about them very well. I only know just a few people that live in the same building with me. Outside my compound, I only exchange greetings with people and we go our separate ways. However, due to church activities, I know some of the people in the area. I also know of a couple of faces within my area and I can identify those who are good and those that are bad. Most of the boys involved in advance fee fraud or what is popularly called ‘yahoo boys’ are known to me. That is the much I can say of my neighbourhood because we don’t even have a residents association here. Simply put, people care less about what the other person does for a living.”
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