Former Big Brother Naija star Leo Da Silva has publicly challenged the Nigerian Police over strategies to combat the rising menace of “one chance” crimes, a term used to describe street-level scams and petty crimes in major cities.
On Sunday, Leo took to X to express frustration with roadside checkpoints, suggesting that police efforts would be more effective if focused on bus stops, where “one chance” operators are reportedly most active.
“Nothing pisses me off more than ‘one chance’. It’s like mini kidnapping, mini banditry. Instead of police mounting useless checkpoints to greet us, why not go to bus stops and investigate these operators and grab all of them?” he tweeted.
The comments prompted a response from the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, who stressed the importance of balancing enforcement with citizen protection.
“I am sure you would come back to complain of police harassment, profiling, and unnecessary delays at bus stops. There are smarter ways. Let us start by making moves for 24/7 CCTV coverage of all bus stops. It isn’t for us to install, but it’ll help us a great deal,” Hundeyin posted.
Leo later clarified that his concern was about prioritizing police manpower toward tackling criminal activity rather than maintaining traditional checkpoints.
“I don’t know what your first sentence means, even if that doesn’t affect me, it’s a valid complaint. Instead of deploying unnecessary checkpoints, why not suggest to the force that one chance operators must be caught,” he wrote, highlighting the challenges in Lagos and Abuja.
The exchange has sparked public discussion on the effectiveness of policing methods in Nigeria, with social media users weighing in on the balance between citizen safety, crime prevention, and the use of technology like CCTV to monitor criminal activity.
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