Nigeria: Street Vendors on Lagos Street Charged with Traffic Offenses – But the Real Problem is Gangs

On By Karl

Traffic in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, is congested and chaotic. About 1.8 million vehicles used Lagos roads in 2022. There is a city 226 vehicles per kilometer. The global average is 11 cars per kilometre, and the Nigerian national average is 16.

But traffic congestion is not the only problem. Another is the risk of becoming traffic crime victim. Statistics are hard to come by, but mainstream media regularly report stories About Lagos residents being robbed and even losing their lives attacks by criminal gangs on the roads.

population of Lagos It is estimated that there are approximately 16 millionmaking it the largest city in Africa. It is located on a small plot of land, which causes endless traffic gridlock, creating an economic opportunity for hawkers to ply their trade.

State reports They cited street vending as the reason for pickpocketing and robbery in traffic. The government claims that hawking creates opportunities for criminals as people exchange money and display their wares. Also people pretend to be hawkers to rob people.

I was also a street vendor in Lagos in the 1990s. I was also kidnapped and robbed in traffic in 2020. As a sociocultural anthropologist and development historian, I wanted to take a closer look at whether street vendors were really the problem. What role do others, such as gangs, play? That’s what motivated me research.

I would argue that street vendors are not the real criminals, no matter what the police and others say.

The unfair criminalization of traders has been used to justify stopping street vendors in traffic in Lagos. Meanwhile, street gangs can operate unchecked and crime-inducing conditions, such as unemployment, continue.

my research

I conducted the research to identify the major actors behind pickpocketing and traffic robberies on urban highways in Lagos. Studies of street vendors in Nigeria (especially Lagos) have overlooked issues such as pickpocketing and armed robbery, which are often carried out by unknown actors who disguise themselves as street vendors.

Between 2021 and 2023, I conducted in-depth interviews with people and led focus group discussions. By participating in hawking activities, I captured the activities of known and unknown gangs carrying out various criminal activities in traffic. I also interacted with many street vendors and street gangs who described their experiences working in Lagos traffic.

My research revealed that the majority of street vendors arrested in connection with pickpocketing and robbery were itinerant traders. They wander around in traffic selling their goods.

Reports of street vendors as perpetrators of traffic crimes are often based on political narratives and biases of law enforcement officials and government agencies that criminalize a group of street vendors from a particular part of the country.

I interviewed street vendors and received official reports. Lagos State Environmental Cleanup Corps In 2022.

The immersive approach I took in my research allowed me to interact with dominant street gangs and provide evidence of their involvement in traffic crimes. During the two years I observed them, I adopted multiple identities. Sometimes I acted like a peddler, and sometimes I openly presented myself as a researcher, depending on who I was dealing with. I identified myself as an investigator among law enforcement, but I was identified as a “street hustler,” huckster, and potential gang member among the various street gangs with which I was involved.

Various gangs use the opportunity provided by traffic situations to rob commuters. I have observed that smartphones and laptops are regular targets of these traffic thieves. This may be due to their economic value.

Like poverty is increasingSome youth gangs are becoming more aggressive, as I have observed, robbing commuters and drivers for daily survival.

Sometimes they disguise themselves as street vendors, alms beggars and automobile technicians. During gridlock, they brazenly pick into commuters’ pockets, snatch their bags or snatch their phones. Although a few street vendors were involved in pickpocketing, I observed that the perpetrators were criminal gangs.

Read more: ‘One chance’ in Lagos: how criminal gangs rob vehicles in the city

Why are the findings important?

The research finding contradicts the conventional story that robbers in Lagos traffic are hawkers. This also shows the inadequacy of the government’s efforts to combat smuggling and crime on Lagos roads.

Street gangs’ areas were left uncontrolled as the state continued to combat street vendors legitimately struggling to survive in the city.