Posted by By Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri on
All the passengers of a Lagos bound commercial luxury bus were Thursday night, robbed of cash and personal effects conservatively put at over N4 million.
All the passengers of a Lagos bound commercial luxury bus were Thursday night, robbed of cash and personal effects conservatively put at over N4 million.
One of the victims of the robbery incident, who spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, told Saturday Vanguard that they left Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for Lagos on the fateful day, on board Chukwudi Transport Company Limited.
'I got the shock of my life when we suddenly noticed that a tipper lorry had blocked the road. From the distance, we thought it was a broken down vehicle or that the driver was trying to branch off the road", the man recounted.
According to him, some heavily armed young boys pounced on them as soon as their vehicle coasted to a halt, near the tipper lorry at about 10 O'clock in the night. 'Some of them quickly found their way into the bus and started dishing out military order in succession. We could see they meant serious business and we avoided resisting their instructions like a plague", the man said amidst sobs. Answering another question, the respondent confirmed that there were a number of traders in the luxury bus, who were going to make purchases in Lagos, adding that none of his fellow passengers was among the armed gang.
'The hoodlums carefully ransacked the bus and frisked all passengers. They stole cash, mobile telephone handsets and all manner of valuables amounting to more than N4 million. They honestly had a field day", the man lamented. When Saturday Vanguard visited the area Friday morning, a villager who simply identified himself as Chima, said the police have apprehended and detained about two of the robbers at the Ohaji Divisional Police Headquarters, Umuagwo. Continuing, Chima said that some mobile policemen attached to an oil company operating in the area, mobilized themselves immediately and apprehended two of the fleeing robbers. It was also gathered that the detainees have made confessional statements to the police, as well as promised to take security personnel to where their colleagues were hiding with the loot.
When contacted on his mobile phone, the Chairman of Ohaji/Egbema local government area, Chief Luke Chukwu, lamented that the growing number of armed robbery attacks at Nkarahia, was giving his administration some sleepless nights. 'My administration has, because of the incessant armed robbery operations between Umuagwo and Umuapu, constructed police posts and donated same to the state police command.
The sad thing is that the police have refused to put them into good use", Chief Chukwu said. He confirmed that he had severally reported the incidents to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hezekiah Dimka, adding that he would post his men to the area but 'before 8.00 pm the policemen would vacate their duty posts". His words: 'It is very sad to note that my administration used the lean resources available to the Council to construct these police posts, which the state police command never cared to put into good use.
There may never be an end to these robbery incidents at Nkarahia until the police do what they ought to do". When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Isah Bala Mohammed, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), confirmed the story but pleaded that he was yet to get details of the robbery incident.