By Stephen Enoch
At just 14, Ahmed Umar* knew the streets of Brigade better than he knew a classroom.
From Yan Doya to Yan Gwan Gwan, he knew many other locations known for social vices like phone snatching, theft, drug abuse, and many others.
Long before he picked up a clipper, his hands ran errands for older boys involved in petty theft, and sometimes acted as a lookout when fights broke out at odd hours.
“Some of my friends and I of the same age range used to stay out late with the older boys and observe how they carry out their operations,” he told Stallion Times.
For Umar, it all started with the quest to make money for himself.
He started skipping classes at school, and with no one to hold him accountable, he drifted deeper into the streets.
“I already learned how to spot vulnerable targets and how to escape when things went wrong.
“I also learnt how to lose chasers by turning into the different streets and corners of the brigade.
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“Almost everyone around me was doing something like this so it felt normal,” Umar revealed.
He recalled a night when he experienced the dark side of crime, which got him really scared.
“It happened in 2024 when I followed the boys for an outing. We made a lot of money from stolen phones; most of them were forcibly taken from people in dark, isolated corners of the area.
“The next day, the items were sold, and we gathered to share the money in a dark, isolated section of Brigade.
“Since I was just new, I observed from the back.
“Suddenly, a fight broke out among them.
“They were fighting because some felt cheated.
“The fight was fierce to the extent that they started injuring themselves with knives, broken bottles and other sharp metallic objects.
“At the end of it, the strongest among them devised a sharing formula and everyone got a share of the loot,” Umar narrated.
Umar said he knew that this path would one day put him in Jail, which he feared extremely.
Everything changed the day he wandered into a small barbershop owned by a man the boys called Oga Abdul.
At first, Umar said he came around just to watch as young boys his age cut hair.
“These are my age mates making money here and they don’t have to fight or steal,” Umar recalled.
He was curious and unsure whether to follow this path or continue with the rugged path, which was dangerous but brought in quick cash.
Oga Abdul noticed Umar and that was how his new path started.
