It was supposed to be a special trip when Abdu Adem brought his 18-year-old daughter on his work trip to Addis Abeba last month.

The 45-year-old father of five who lives in Bale Robe comes to the capital every month to report to his office's headquarters. He works at Bale Robe Vital Registration Office.

During his latest trip, he brought his second daughter as she had never visited the city before.

“She always wanted to see Addis Abeba, and she was really excited when she came along,” Adem told Fortune.

On July 1, 2019, after finishing work, it was finally time for Adem to take his daughter out. The trip started early with the two paying their first visit to Oromia Cultural Center and next on their list was Addis Abeba International Airport located in Bole.

Around 10:00am, after making a small stop at Dembel City Centre, on Africa Avenue, they took a minibus taxi to the airport.

They jumped in the first taxi that came their way. Eight people were in the taxi, including two women, and due to the sitting arrangement, the father and the daughter had to split up. Adem sat in the first row, while his daughter sat in the third.

Once the car started moving, the front seat broke and fell on Adem's lap. He pulled it back up again, but he was told by the driver to keep holding it so that the assistant, the one who collects the money, can screw the seat in place.

Adem decided to cooperate willingly and had no reason not to help. He was holding the seat with his two hands, while the assistant tried to fix it. However, the task took too long, which made Adem uncomfortable and somewhat suspicious.

"I didn’t like the seat and decided to stop holding it," said Adem.

But as he was putting  his hands back in his pocket, he directly caught the guy sitting next to him taking his phone out of his pocket.

After taking back his phone and making sure he did not lose other things, Adem confronted the guy.

"I told the others the guy was a thief and told them to call the police," said Adem.

But nobody offered a helping hand, and Adem then realised that everybody else was in on it too. The confrontation between the two got physical, and the other passengers in the taxi also laid their hands on Adem, while his daughter was crying and screaming in the back.

When things heated up, and Adem realised he was not in a position to win, he told them to drop him and his daughter off and let them go, to which they agreed.

Luckily for Adem, a nearby code enforcement officer had been watching what was happening inside the taxi, and when the doors opened to drop them off, the officer was there to provide a helping hand.

Soon, the confrontation caught the attention of nearby people and the code enforcement officer called the police.

As the perpetrators understood the police were on their tail, they decided to abandon the taxi as they could not drive it away in the congested road.

It became a foot chase, and all eight individuals ran in one direction, while Adem and the code enforcement officer chased from behind.

As the chase continued, the suspects ran away from the main road and into shanty areas. Unfortunately, Adem and the officer could not keep track, and the suspects escaped.

When Adem came back to the minibus, the federal police had already arrived. Adem and his daughter, along with the vehicle, were taken to Lancha Area Community Police Station to give their statements.

“It was a disturbing experience that has shocked my daughter and me,” said Adem.

Though the incident caught the unsuspecting visitors, by surprise, such criminal methods are not new for the city’s dwellers.

“Such crimes are quite common,” one of the police officers told Fortune.

However, despite their familiarity with the city’s crime methods, the city’s residents argue that there is an increase in the frequency.

During the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, 12,300 criminal activities were registered in the city, according to the Addis Abeba Police Commission. The first quarter saw the highest figure with 4,991 recorded crimes.

One such person, who belives crime is on the rise, is Rashida Mohammed, who has lost three phones to thieves this year.

"Lately, there is something different, and criminal activities are increasing," Rashida told Fortune.

Rashida is not alone in her concern, which is shared by other residents, businesses and even international organisations too.

Two months ago, the African Union issued a security alert notifying its employees to take extra precautions, stating there was a rising incident of crimes in the capital.

“Some of the reported incidents include attempted robberies of the African Union headquarters, armed robbery of African Union member state expatriate residences, as well as robbery of local and international staff of AU,” reads the statement.

Another diplomatic entity had also fallen victim to the criminals of Addis. In May 2019, the residents of the Namibian Embassy Staff located around Atlas Hotel were robbed by armed men who took money, cell phones, jewelery and laptops.

"With the rise of similar incidents of this nature, the safety of the Diplomatic Mission remains a grave concern," reads a statement released by the Embassy of the Republic of Namibia.

The notion is also shared by some of the city’s police officers, including Fikadu Selassie, an inspector at Lancha Area Community Police Station, one of the 22,000 police officers in the city.