Keep watch over your car!

With the strife situation on the Central African Republic virtually settled, one would have expected an immediate drop in the number of carjackings in the country.

For a very long time, it was known that many of the cars stolen in Yaounde, Douala or other big cities in the country found easy markets in Central African Republic and even in Chad. But lately, the security services have rather reported a sudden rise in cases of car thefts.

Reports say thieves have resorted to new and apparently more efficient ways of stealing cars and that accounts for the fact that most of the stolen cars are never retrieved. For a simple reason. It is said that thieves hardly break into cars in order to drive off. This system was often made difficult by the fact that drivers often blocked their steering wheels, making it difficult for the car to move.

Moreover, modern technology, using automated security devices had also made it possible to determine the location of a stolen vehicle. To avoid all of that, they now use tow-away vehicles to drive stolen vehicles off to garages where the said stolen vehicles are quickly dismantled and the spare parts distributed to several spare parts stores working in tandem with them. In this way, it is extremely difficult to trace a car which has been dismantled.

The situation calls for immediate reaction from the public authorities, notably the security agencies which must henceforth remain very watchful about the movements of towed vehicles while greater attention must be paid to the functioning of garages. Government services, councils and other corporate bodies employing large numbers must henceforth think of providing parking areas for vehicles so as to make for closer surveillance. But above all, the situation calls for the utmost vigilance from car owners.