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NIGERIAN SHOPLIFTERS IN IRELAND, UNENDING PARADOX:

NIGERIAN SHOPLIFTERS IN IRELAND, UNENDING PARAOX: By Chris Okafor

With obvious reference to two previous edition of Galway Independent Newspaper, court report columns 19th January, 2005, I was dismayed and shocked to learn about the shameless Nigerian shoplifters.

This is not only a disgrace but a complete shame to those involved because I am sure that average Nigerians in this country knows the inexplicable, immediate and sometimes rash penalty imposed on anyone caught stealing in the market back home. I am a living eye witness to a horrific market scene in Nigeria where a thief who stole goods worth less than 3.00 was set ablaze within a twinkle of eye.

In our sedentary lifestyle in this country, I have watched helplessly the nefarious behaviour of fellow Nigerians which falls back to our old sickening mentality to always put ourselves in position of relevance where we hardly belong and to live as rich men and women where as we are still dependant on social welfare.

Most of us are in habit of living a false lifestyle often meant to impress and oppress other people around us otherwise, there is absolutely no moral reasons why someone with previous convictions and criminal records could steal cans of beers just because she want to host the best party in town.

The ironic implications of this are palpable. A coloured person hardly walks into any store here without being followed or monitored in spite of the presence of the close circuit television (cctv).

I have pondered why these unscrupulous elements decide to chose this particular period to expose their sordid attitudes. If people who have gotten their residential permits should embark on such disturbing phenomenon instead of looking for a gainful employment, where precisely does it leave those that are still praying fervently for theirs?

This is definitely a wrong signal and I am not particularly sure if this is not deliberate, perhaps, to support some peculiar views being expressed in some quarters that Nigerians are not good.

To the authority, I want them to realize that Nigeria, like every other countries in the world have had their fair share of the good, the bad and the ugly. There are hundreds of responsible Nigerians in this country and I am sure that they will prove themselves in no distant future and by so doing; the government would further realize that there are still saints among the devilish lots.

Any Kleptomaniac caught shoplifting should face the full wrath of the law without compassion.

The reactions I had both positive and negative, including finger pointing when the above article was published in Galway Independent on the 26th of January, 2005 was quite tremendous. One of the ideas behind the writing and its subsequent publication as at the time was to put those thieves where they belong and further prevent them from giving all Nigerians a bad name.

Looking back now, the big question is if I really archive anything by writing the article. The answer is both Yes and No. Yes, because I have been disillusioned and the saints whom I had mentioned in that article are now springing up in Irish society. From Newspapers and Magazines publishers to Lawyers, Accountants, Journalist, Engineers, Doctors and Nurses just name them, they are presently here doing what they know conscientiously and to the best of their professional knowledge.

No, because the same devilish shoplifters are still rising on geometrical proportions everywhere in Ireland. Unfortunately for these men and women, they have added stealing as part of their hobbies.

From Dublin to Limerick, Cork to Galway City, the story is the same. Most of the department stores in Galway city between 2005 and 2006 have photographs of some men and women of Nigeria extraction posted in their entrances and conspicuously barred from shopping or entering their shops due to their kleptomaniac activities.

How could one possibly steal cans of beers just because you want to host the best party in town? How could you put your baby in a buggy, walk straight to the fashion shop, steal a dress your size and when caught, you said it was mistakenly picked by your baby? What exactly is the rationale behind the attitude of this shameless and recently jailed Nigerian woman shoplifter who has the gut to call a (Gardi) Police a racist when caught? How could you go into a shop, buy what you need, paid and take what you bought home only to surface the next day with the receipt and claiming that you want to exchange the item after you must picked a new one from the same shop leaving behind the one you bought the previous day at home?

Are these people doing this for pleasure or simply taking advantage of Irish law in order to commit these crimes? Jungle justice is not allowed here neither is it permitted in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as I am aware of but the setting ablaze of common criminals in market scenes and shops in Nigeria is sometimes so swift that before the police arrive, the culprit must have been burnt to ashes.

Stealing is a symptom of insatiable wants, desires or demands for material things often with infinitesimal values. It normally starts from childhood and that can explain why people with previous convictions on a particular crimes will surely commit the same again and again. People that study marketing and its concepts would illustrate to you how the product life circle works. It starts from introduction stage and then to maturity and finally decline. When any of my children came back home from school with a biro, book or toys that I did not buy for them, I thought it would be part of my responsibility as a parent to question them and ensure that same item is return to the school the next day. How often do we do this? None! If children grow up stealing without the parents correcting it at the introduction stage the resultant effect would be the resurrection of yet another shoplifters. It is time to grow up.

Chris Okafor

Chris Obiajulu Okafor was born in Ogwashi-Uku in Delta state of Nigeria few months before the outbreak of the protracted Nigeria civil war. He had both his primary and post primary education in Ogwashi- Uku and later studied Mass Communication in the University Of Lagos.He came to Ireland in 2002 where he is presently living with his wife and 3 children. Chris is a journalist and a creative writer that has participated in many comtemporary issues both here and in Nigeria.

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