The Nigeria Police and former Big Brother Naija star, Leo Da Silva have engaged in a public debate over strategies to combat “one chance” menace and individuals reportedly involved in street-level scams and petty crimes across major Nigerian cities.
On Sunday, Leo Da Silva took to X to express frustration with current police deployment strategies, questioning the effectiveness of roadside checkpoints and suggesting that police efforts would be better focused on bus stops, where “one chance” operators are more active.
“Nothing pisses me off 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 one-chance operators and grab all of them??” he tweeted.
The reality TV star’s comments prompted a response from the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, who emphasized that enforcement strategies must balance action with protecting citizens from harassment.
“I am sure you would come back to complain of police harassment, profiling and unnecessary delays at the bus stops. There are smarter ways.
“Let us start by making moves for 24/7 CCTV coverage of all bus stops. Just in case you’d ask, it isn’t for us to install, but it’ll help us a great deal,” Hundeyin posted, advocating for technological solutions to improve policing while reducing friction with commuters.
Leo Da Silva later clarified that his main concern was ensuring police manpower is prioritised toward directly tackling criminal activity rather than 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.”
“Use that manpower to sort that. Abuja and Lagos, especially,” he wrote, highlighting the specific challenges in Nigeria’s capital cities.