Be mindful of thieves

As Muslims in the country prepare for this year’s Muslim feast of Tobaski (Eid ul Adha), we just want to reiterate our previous advice on this page for people, especially those traveling, to be mindful of pickpockets.

While many will be busy moving in and out of markets, and others travelling to other parts of the country for the Tobaski, others will be very active looking for something to steal.

Interestingly enough, it is very difficult for one to differentiate these pickpockets from ordinary travellers.

Most of the time, some of these unscrupulous people will be scrambling for public transport with people, pretending they want to join vehicles, when in fact they intend to steal.

People must be extra-careful about these thieves, most of whom spend the whole day at public car parks looking for something to get away with.

Some notable places for such unscrupulous acts are the Cooperative taxi terminal at West Field and the Brikama car park in Banjul.

People should be always mindful about the way they handle cash, during their daily shopping for the feast, especially the women.

This is the time when the police have to closely monitor such people, who are very destructive to society’s development.

Most of the time, these types of thieves make a lot of families cry, by taking away the cash they intend to use for the feast.

Imagine a parent who prepares to do shopping for his/her family, leaves home with cash and arrives at the market, only to realize that thieves have snatched his/her money. Oh, how painful is this!