Rising cases of motorcycle riders forcefully removing women’s wigs in traffic spark fear, outrage, and urgent calls for improved public safety
A young Lagos woman has shared a harrowing account of how her evening commute turned into a moment of shock and humiliation after a motorcycle rider forcefully snatched the wig off her head an incident now echoing the experiences of many women across Nigeria. The disturbing trend, which has generated viral videos and widespread concern on social media, is fast becoming a public safety issue in major cities.
According to the victim, identified simply as Tomi, the incident happened during rush hour at CMS while she was heading home from work. She had reluctantly taken a commercial motorcycle to beat the evening traffic. But shortly after the ride began, a second bike pulled up beside her, and in a split second, the rider yanked her wig off her head and sped away.
“There was no warning,” she said. “Just a violent pull… and suddenly my hair was bare, my confidence gone, and everyone was staring. I felt exposed and helpless.”
Witnesses say the snatching was executed with the speed and precision of a coordinated theft, a pattern consistent with several recent reports in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, and Abuja. Videos circulating online show similar incidents, with women screaming in shock as their wigs are ripped off in traffic or at crowded bus stops.
Experts note that while the exact motive behind these attacks remains unclear, the wigs especially human hair units are valuable on the resale market, with some costing hundreds of thousands to millions of naira. The ease of snatching them without confrontation appears to have emboldened opportunistic riders.
In Tomi’s case, the psychological impact was just as painful as the loss of the wig itself. She described walking home in tears, grappling with embarrassment as passersby whispered, laughed, or simply looked away. “It wasn’t just the wig,” she said. “It was the insult, the fear, and the helplessness.”
The growing trend has sparked heated conversations online, with many Nigerians calling for stricter regulation of commercial riders, improved street surveillance, and community awareness. Women have also begun sharing safety tips from using stronger wig grips to avoiding exposed bike rides in high-risk areas.
Security analysts warn that if left unchecked, wig-snatching could escalate into more violent forms of intimidation and theft. Advocacy groups are urging authorities to treat the incidents as targeted harassment and opportunistic crime rather than social-media “content.”
For now, victims like Tomi are still rebuilding their confidence after the traumatic encounters. “I’m stepping out again,” she said. “Not because I feel entirely safe, but because I refuse to let one moment steal my courage.”
As the trend continues to spread, many Nigerians say the time for urgent action is now before more women fall prey to this unsettling wave of street theft.
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