Other gang members brought out syringes and needles. One of them announced that if the ATM card did not match the Personal Identification Number (PIN) we gave, they would inject us with the lethal content.”
These were the words of Miss Happiness Ukachi as she recounted how she was robbed last week around 4:30pm. She said she was heading to her office, in Victoria Island, when she encountered the commercial bus robbers.
Ukachi said that she never knew commercial buses plying her route from Ogba to Obalende/ CSM, had been taken over by robbers, called ‘One chance’ in Lagos.
She said that three minutes into the journey from Ogba-Aguda, Excellence Hotel, the bus veered off towards Jakande -Agidingbi Road. She further said that the bus had not driven close to Cadbury, when it suddenly dawned on her that something was wrong.
The commercial bus jerked to a stop and two men, who had earlier posed as passengers, whipped out guns.
The nightmare started. Ukachi said: “They ordered every passenger to alight and submit his or her ATM cards, with the corresponding PIN. They forced us to lie-faced down under the bus. One of them then left for a nearby bank ATM gallery and returned in less than 20 minutes.
He looked happy. That was how I lost the money in my account.” Ukachi said four occupants of the bus, who also had their ATM cards seized, also lost their money to the robbers. One of them, who collapsed over the loss of her money, was rushed to a nearby hospital.
“One chance” is a name given to robbery gangs that operate in commercial buses. The robbers have members in the buses, posing as passengers. They drive around Lagos metropolis, scouting for victims.
They usually don’t pick more than two or four victims at a time. Then they drive them to a remote place, where they would threaten them with guns, machetes, charms or other dangerous weapons, before dispossessing them of their valuables. Most times, these bandits would push victims out of the speeding bus.
Another victim, Biodun Ahmed, the son of a retired police officer, who left his Bariga residence early in the morning sometimes in March, also fell into the trap of these clever commercial bus robbers.
Ahmed boarded a bus that was supposed to take him to Jibowu, Yaba, Lagos State, where he would join an interstate bus going to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He had just secured a job in one of the oil servicing companies after his National Youths Service Programme. Unknown to him, the commercial bus was that of ‘One chance’ robbers. According to him, there were about eight pas¬sengers already in the 14- passenger capacity bus.
He felt the bus would soon be filled, but the driver didn’t wait for more passengers before he took off. Ahmed said: “I wanted to sit by the door, but the conductor told me that it was his seat. I had to go back, to sit between two ‘passengers.’
I knew danger lurked, when, instead of the bus to descend at Anthony to head towards Ojuelegba, accelerated towards Oshodi.
When I asked where we were headed, one of the gang members whom I thought was my co-passenger, barked at me to shut up or he would shut it for me. “They took me to a particular place that I couldn’t locate.
They searched my bag, took my wallet and brought out my three ATM cards. They also took my phone.
They scrolled through my messages to know the last alerts of my financial transactions. Thereafter, they asked me to write down the password of each of my ATM cards.
The one with a gun, turned, shook his head and warned that if I tried to prove that I was a smart guy, my family wouldn’t see my corpse. I cooperated with them. One of them dashed to the bank and in less than an hour, returned.
They had emptied my three ac¬counts in different banks. “They later blindfolded and dropped me between Sanya and Coker bus stops, along Oshodi- Apapa Expressway.
They didn’t return my ATM cards. They however gave me my bag.” According to Ahmed, a good Nigerian, who listened to his plight, gave him N500, which he used to pay for his fare back home.
Mr. Chris is also another victim. Chris works with one of the new generation banks in Lagos Island. Chris used to leave his resident at Mafoluku area of Oshodi around 5: am, for Victoria Island. But on that fateful day, Chris never knew he boarded a bus from hell.
The driver had not driven far when he claimed that the bus had developed fault. The driver parked. Immediately, Chris’s ‘co-passengers’ pounced on him. They took his N10, 000 and his wallet. His ATM card was also taken. Chris was ordered to submit his PIN if he wanted to stay alive.
Chris recounted: “One of them, who threatened to shoot me if the PIN I gave was wrong, said my family wouldn’t see my corpse. That was how I lost N150, 000.” Mrs. Josephine also narrated the experience she had along Ajegunle- Boundary route. Josephine sells ‘garri’ at Boundary Market.
One day, she boarded a commercial bus, unaware the driver and some passengers were robbers. Josephine said: “The N20, 000 I had in cash were taken, while my ATM and the PIN were collected.
There was no money in my account anyway. I told them I had no money in the account. One of them said they should allow me to go. He said they had already collected cash from me. I was left stranded before I found my way back home.”https://newtelegraphonline.com/robbers-commercial-buses-now-target-atm-cards/
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