Babatope Okeowo, Mojeed Alabi, Taiwo Jimoh and Stanley Ihedigbo
Fresh facts have emerged on the shooting incident that occurred along the Benin-Ore expressway on Tuesday.
It will be recalled that on Tuesday, distressed students and passengers sent out voice recording claiming that they were being attacked by gunmen.
While some claimed that the attackers were herdsmen, other insisted that it was the usual expressway robbery, which that axis is notorious for. The two different versions of the story have created panic, worry and anxieties, with many Nigerians taking to the social media to support or kick against the story.
Yesterday, students of the Igbinedon University, Okada, Edo State, who witnessed the attack along the Benin-Ore-Lagos road have narrated their story and expressed their shock. They described the incident as frightening.
The students, who said they had left the school on Tuesday morning after their first semester examination, told New Telegraph that shortly after passing the two popular parks in Ore, Ondo State, they were shocked to meet a roadblock with commercial buses used as road blocks by six gunmen.
One of the students, a Petroleum Engineering Student of the university, who identified herself simply as Teniola, said she was in a car alongside three other ladies and a driver she identified simply as Faruk, when they ran into the attack.
She said: “The father of a friend of mine came around to pick her, so I decided to join her. We got to know where many vehicles were flagged down and their tyres deflated by the gunmen. In fact, I was sleeping before we got to the spot; sounds of gunshot woke me. Our driver contemplated turning back when a Hilux van occupied by a foreigner, who looked like an Asian, and a uniformed man, drove past. The attackers kept shooting at the van. Our driver used the Hilux as a cover to also escape. I’m very sure the van must have been a bulletproof one. That was how we escaped.”
According to Teniola’s father, Prince Adegboyega, his daughter was terrified by the experience when she eventually got home, but she had already recovered.
A 400-level student of Computer Science Department in the school, whose father had sent the driver to pick her, identified as Osaretini, said that the men she saw were dressed in green uniform and were about six in number.
Osaretini said: “They were about six men in number and they carried big guns with some of them standing on passengers who had been ordered to lie face-down. They kept shooting at other fleeing passengers, but I couldn’t tell whether people died or not. We had thought the attackers were herdsmen because two days before we left the school, we had received whatssapp broadcast message which stated that herdsmen would attack along the route on that day.”
When our correspondent went to the scene of the incident yesterday, people living around the place gave graphic details of the events.
A member of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), Bimbola Badmus, who witnessed the incident, said he almost ran into the hail of bullets of the gunmen before he veered into the bush. He also quickly alerted members of the union, plying the road.
Badmus said the armed robbers who he could not ascertain their tribe, hijacked one of the buses plying the road and used it to block the major road.
A member of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), Bimbola Badmus, who witnessed the incident, said he almost ran into the hail of bullets of the gunmen before he veered into the bush. He also quickly alerted members of the union, plying the road.
Badmus said the armed robbers who he could not ascertain their tribe, hijacked one of the buses plying the road and used it to block the major road.
He further said: “Three buses were robbed along the road, while others abandoned their vehicles and ran into the bush in order not to be caught in the hail of bullets. I didn’t see any corpse along the road or in the bush. We hid in the bush until a combined team of soldiers and policemen came and dislodged the gunmen.”
A resident of Ore, Mr Sina Ajisafe, said the incident happened immediately after Omotoso village around 3pm. He said that nobody could get near the scene until the military men came and cleared the gridlock caused by the armed robbery incident.
Similarly, Mrs Foluke Ajidahun, a petty trader at Ore Park said nobody could get near the scene for more than one hour while the armed robbers operated.
According to her, buses coming from Benin and heading toward Lagos or coming from Lagos and heading towards Benin or Akure were stuck for more than one hour.
She said: “The armed robbers shot sporadically at the buses, forcing the passengers to disembark and ran for safety. Many of them left their buses and belongings on the road.
A resident of Ore, Mr Sina Ajisafe, said the incident happened immediately after Omotoso village around 3pm. He said that nobody could get near the scene until the military men came and cleared the gridlock caused by the armed robbery incident.
Similarly, Mrs Foluke Ajidahun, a petty trader at Ore Park said nobody could get near the scene for more than one hour while the armed robbers operated.
According to her, buses coming from Benin and heading toward Lagos or coming from Lagos and heading towards Benin or Akure were stuck for more than one hour.
She said: “The armed robbers shot sporadically at the buses, forcing the passengers to disembark and ran for safety. Many of them left their buses and belongings on the road.
A journalist, who was a passenger in one of the buses plying the road on that fateful day, said the men were armed to the teeth and used one of the snatch vehicles to block the highway and robbed passengers.
He said one of the buses on sighting the robbers, ran into a ditch, leaving the passengers seriously injured.
He said: “Many of the passengers ran into the bush while two 18-seater buses, one commercial car and a private car were robbed. For over 30 minutes, vehicles couldn’t move along the major road linking the states as policemen who were at various road blocks along the ever busy road ran for cover. The situation was brought under control after military men moved in to dislodge the armed robbers.”
Residents, drivers and passengers who witnessed the incident were unanimous that some of the people who ran into the bush were rescued the following day and taken to the police station at Ore.
However, three of the passengers who were kidnapped by the hoodlums and found in the bush, have been discharged from the Police Clinic. The three victims are Nwosu Virginia, Opara Olushi and Okechucku Johnson. They were coming from Imo State and heading to Lagos when they ran into the robbery.
The Edo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Femi Joseph said a report trending on the social media which stated that many people were killed in the robbery incident was a falsehood.
Joseph said: “The command wishes to state that nothing of such happened. To set the record straight, some passengers in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Imo State were intercepted by the robbers on the expressway. The hoodlums, who did not succeed in their efforts to rob the passengers owing to the quick intervention of the men of the command, kidnapped some of the commuters. However, four men were later rescued by the police while efforts are being intensified to arrest the hoodlums and rescue the remaining victims. Information from the rescued victims indicated that the hoodlums were from Chad and Niger. It must be added that no one was maimed, killed or has been reportedly killed by the hoodlums."
He said one of the buses on sighting the robbers, ran into a ditch, leaving the passengers seriously injured.
He said: “Many of the passengers ran into the bush while two 18-seater buses, one commercial car and a private car were robbed. For over 30 minutes, vehicles couldn’t move along the major road linking the states as policemen who were at various road blocks along the ever busy road ran for cover. The situation was brought under control after military men moved in to dislodge the armed robbers.”
Residents, drivers and passengers who witnessed the incident were unanimous that some of the people who ran into the bush were rescued the following day and taken to the police station at Ore.
However, three of the passengers who were kidnapped by the hoodlums and found in the bush, have been discharged from the Police Clinic. The three victims are Nwosu Virginia, Opara Olushi and Okechucku Johnson. They were coming from Imo State and heading to Lagos when they ran into the robbery.
The Edo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Femi Joseph said a report trending on the social media which stated that many people were killed in the robbery incident was a falsehood.
Joseph said: “The command wishes to state that nothing of such happened. To set the record straight, some passengers in a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Imo State were intercepted by the robbers on the expressway. The hoodlums, who did not succeed in their efforts to rob the passengers owing to the quick intervention of the men of the command, kidnapped some of the commuters. However, four men were later rescued by the police while efforts are being intensified to arrest the hoodlums and rescue the remaining victims. Information from the rescued victims indicated that the hoodlums were from Chad and Niger. It must be added that no one was maimed, killed or has been reportedly killed by the hoodlums."
Our correspondent also visited interstate companies alleged to be at the scene of the incident on Tuesday. They denied there was any sort of attack on that route.
No comments:
Post a Comment