Armed robbers attack Abakaliki-bound luxury bus in Ogun

By Abiodun OBA

Dare-devil robbers attacked an Abakaliki-bound luxury bus at Oke Ado junction at Ijebu Mushin on the Ijebu Ode-Ore-Benin expressway in Ogun state at weekend robbing all passengers on board.

The spokesperson of Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola who confirmed the incident through her social media platform, said the luxury bus (Mercedes Benz) was also burnt down by the armed bandits.

She added: “The vehicle was coming from Maza Maza before it encountered the hoodlums. No reference to the gun was made. They carried cutlasses.”

The dare-devil robbers had reportedly earlier, stripped all the 59 occupants of the bus of their belongings, and locked the vehicle from outside before setting it ablaze.

It was further gathered that the passengers smashed the glass windows, and jumped out of the bus before it was completely razed by fire.

The management of Ifesinachi Transport Nig. Ltd, said the attacked bus belonged to the company, and that the vehicle took off from Maza Maza, Lagos, on Good Friday, en route to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

Survivors recounted the harrowing experience in a distressing video shared on the social media platform, X by influencer, Chude Nnamdi.

“Ifesinachi Motors, we were travelling in the night to come back to the East for Easter celebration, and criminals attacked us in Ijebu-Ode along Ore/Benin expressway,” one passenger lamented.

The victims described how the bandits, armed and menacing, seized their belongings and subjected them to a terrifying ordeal.

“They robbed us of everything we had, some they stripped half-naked. They locked us inside the 59-seater luxury bus and set it ablaze,” another survivor recounted.

“We thank God that we later escaped, nobody died but everything we had was collected. We thank God that we didn’t lose anyone, but we lost everything we were travelling with and some sustained injuries.

“The armed robbers attacked us at Ijebu Ode. They stripped us of our dresses and belongings and beat us mercilessly. They forced us back into the bus and set it ablaze. But we are grateful to God that nobody was burnt to death because we all managed to escape from the burning vehicle.

“Though some of us sustained injuries and we all lost our belongings because the robbers took everything with them, including the clothes some of us were wearing. We have been stranded here since 2 a.m. (Saturday morning).”