Suspected Fulani bandits attack travellers on Lagos-Ibadan expressway
Scores of commuters and motorists had raw deals at the hands of armed bandits suspected to be of Fulani extraction on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway yesterday afternoon. Many of them lost valuables and sustained injuries in two coordinated attacks by the robbers on the highway.
The daylight attacks took place at two spots before and after the old Ogere toll plaza and they involved the robbers sneaking out of the surrounding bushes to take advantage of the bad portions of the road to rob the victims.
The spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who confirmed that some of the bandits were indeed Fulani, told The Guardian that one of them was eventually killed during an exchange of gunfire with the police.
About 20 robbers with blackened faces, who betrayed their identities by their accent while asking their victims to cooperate with them by surrendering their valuables, carried out the attacks.
A reporter of The Guardian who was a victim of the robbery said the bandits first laid ambush just before Ode-Remo intersection and had succeeded in robbing commuters in about six buses, mainly women suspected to be Lagos-bound traders, of their cash and other valuables.
When other Lagos-bound vehicles got a hint of the robbery, several of them, including about 20 articulated vehicles that were said to be prime targets of the robbers because of the likelihood of cash on them, parked along the route waiting for the road to clear.
A team of armed mobile policemen in a Hilux van with registration number PF 943 SPY that arrived at the scene however cleared the road leading other vehicles and shooting into the air to drive the bandits away.
Many of the victims of the first set of bandits were seen mourning their losses while the women among them rolled on a ground littered with empty bags and wallets but nobody, even the policemen, had the courage to stop and help them to safety as the robbers were seen escaping into the bush.
The bandits were to regroup about 20 kilometers ahead, just after Ogere. Brandishing guns, machetes and knives, the bandits appeared from the bush and stood in the middle of the road and ordered the confused drivers and their passengers to disembark and surrender their possessions.
Many of the commercial bus drivers while attempting to reverse, to escape from the robbery scene hit other vehicles, creating a jam and blocking their escape. One after the other, the passengers, including The Guardian reporter, made a dash for their lives.
Those who could not escape were robbed and many of them were dealt machete blows for not having enough cash. The robbers smashed the windscreens of three buses, a Toyota Venza and a Toyota Corolla, after they had been ransacked stealing handsets, computer laptops and other valuables left by the fleeing owners.
Moments later, a team of policemen arrived at the scene and according to Oyeyemi, they were able to kill one of the robbers during a gunbattle.
The police spokesman said the police were still combing the bushes for the escaped robbers as at 6: 00 p.m. yesterday.
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11 Comments
The gifts from Buhari. Nigerians are only beginning to cry
The high prevalence of insecurity & crime rate across states in Nigeria can be directly linked to the rate of unemployment and increased poverty.
The police fire shots in the air to scare the robbers away Nigerians !!!!!!! are your police not suppose to arrest the robbers? Nigeria is a big JOKE !!!!!!!
Even in the civilised world, they scare robbers. Are policemen not humans?
But in the civilized world the police are not extortioners. Nigerian police are extortioners and they only provide security for their extortion and not for the people.
Let’s not mix issues. Combating crime does not mean they should pursue armed men without wisdom and diligence. The issue of extortion is an entirely different issue. Whether they are corrupt or not, they don’t want to die.
So sad
Mighty men from the East. Hm!
14 TOP SCARY QUOTES OF BUHARI
“I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria. God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country.” – Buhari (Thisday, August 27, 2001)
“If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon will all be soaked in blood.” – Buhari (Vanguard May 15, 2012)
“The last general election was anything but free and fair. The only political parties that could complain of election rigging are those parties that lacked the resources to rig.” – Buhari (First Speech after Military Coup, 31 December, 1983)
“No, no, no; Abacha did not steal Nigeria’s money.” – Buhari (10th Anniversary of Abacha’s death)
“The declaration of state of emergency in three Northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe is a grave injustice against the North.” – Buhari (Liberty Radio, June 2, 2013)
“I live on borrowing. I borrowed from the banks to build the house in Daura and the one in Abuja and Kano. The bank then was Barclays, now Union Bank.” – Buhari (The SUN Exclusive Interview, December 24, 2012)
“When the Niger Delta militants started their activities in the Southsouth, they were invited by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. An aircraft was sent to them and their leaders met with the late President in Aso Rock and discussed issues. They were given money and a training scheme was introduced for their members. But when the Boko Haram emerged in the North, members of the sect were killed, this is unfair”. – Buhari (Liberty Radio, Kaduna May 14 2012)
“Muslims should only vote those who will promote Islam. We are more than the Christians if you add our Muslim brothers in the West.”- Buhari (Liberty Radio Kaduna, 2003).
“This campaign is the third and last one for me; since, after it, I will not present myself again for election into office of the president.” – Buhari (April, 2011 at the Int’l Conference Centre, Abuja)
“I’ll stabilize oil market if elected.” – Buhari (Channels TV Interview, 2014)
“Why should Christians be concerned when Muslim cut off their limbs? After all, the limbs that are being cut off are Muslim ones and not Christian. So why should Christians bother about it?? – Buhari (Liberty Radio, Kaduna 2003)
“If there is a repeat of the Civil War again, I will kill more Igbos to save the country.” – Buhari (BBC Hausa Service, 2015)
“I can die for the cause of Islam if necessary. We are prepared to fight another Civil War. We cannot be blackmailed into killing Sharia.” – Muhammadu Buhari (Freedom House, 2000)
“I’ll make Naira equal in value to dollar.” – Muhammadu Buhari (Vanguard, March 23, 2015).
You aint see nothing yet. The onslaught of terrorism confined to the north east becomes a national insecurity as it spreads southwards. This is what you get when a corrupt system begins to decay
And someone is blaming Trump for placing ban on certain category of people? This nonsense will stop someday. I dont know what Fulanis want. One of them is now the president of Nigeria and yet they want to own the land of Nigeria as well. This is the stuff of which revolutions are made. You will soon lose all. Bravo. Keep it up.
We will review and take appropriate action.