Armed men in Ogun rob travellers, set bus on fire
The Ogun State Police Command has confimed reports of armed bandits intercepting a luxury bus en route to Abakaliki, robbing all passengers onboard before setting the vehicle ablaze.
The passengers, who were heading to the southeast for Easter celebrations, were met with terror as the incident unfolded at Oke Ado junction in Ijebu Mushin, along the Ijebu Ode-Ore-Benin expressway, as confirmed by SP Omolola Odutola, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command.
According to SP Odutola, the luxury Mercedes-Benz bus, originating from Maza Maza, ran into the bandits, who wielded cutlasses during the encounter.
Fortunately, no guns were mentioned, and the passengers were able to escape through the windows before the bus was completely engulfed in flames.
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Furthermore, the management of Ifesinachi Transport Nig. Ltd. verified that the attacked bus belonged to their company and had departed from Maza Maza, Lagos, on Good Friday, bound for Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Expressing shock over the incident, they highlighted the gravity of the situation.
In a distressing video shared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by Chude Nnamdi, survivors recounted the harrowing experience. “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 the 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-seat 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 alive.
“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. on Saturday morning: men, women, and children who are innocently travelling to the east to celebrate Easter.”
