Hoodlums attack Guardian employees with gun in Lagos

Five employees of The Guardian Newspapers were attacked at the weekend by hoodlums around Five Star\Iyana Isolo Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

The staff, Eno Bassey, Freedom Onobrabra, Okere Dominic, Maria Diamond and the driver, who were in the company’s official car, were reportedly returning from office when they were attacked near Ikeja Electricity Company office.

Recall that last December, two reporters, Stanley Akpunonu and Ngozi Egenuka, were also attacked by armed robbers, who dispossessed them of their valuables at Cele Bus Stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

Narrating their ordeals, one of the victims, Eno Bassey, a Production Editor, who described the experience as unpleasant, said: “Maria and others sat at the back while I sat in the front. It was around 10.pm. There was a pothole along the road and the driver slowed down. Suddenly, I saw a human being whose body entered the vehicle and started touching me everywhere. While he was struggling with my body, I was using my two legs to push my bag under the seat, so he didn’t take anything from me, but he was able to remove the driver’s phone. He thereafter started struggling the steering with the driver to the extent that the car veered to a corner, hitting two poles lying by the road and the tyre burst in the process.

“Because we were hooked there, we ran out to knock the gate of a security company nearby and some able-bodied young men came out. They were so nice; they thereafter told us that it was common occurrence sometimes, the hoodlums attack as early as 8 or 8.30pm because of the bad spot. They said two people were recently shot around the area.”

Another victim, Maria Diamond, recalled: “We were trying to drop Eno at Iyana Isolo, when we got to a spot, near Ikeja Electricity Company, there was a pothole. The place was dark and lonely. This guy just came from nowhere, hijacked the car and started struggling with us and harassing Aunt Eno. He forced us off the road and our car rammed into a place where we got stuck. We had to run out of the car to call for help. So, they helped push the car inside their premises, where the tyre was changed.”