Written by Yekini Jimoh, Uchechukwu Olisah, Adewale Ajayi and Sam Nwaoko
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
IT was a black Tuesday in Lokoja, Kogi State; Uromi, Edo State and Ilesa in Osun State, as over 55 people were killed during robbery operations in the towns.
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In Lokoja, over 50 passengers travelling to Abuja lost their lives, as unidentified luxury bus and truck ran over them, during armed robbery operation on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the Chisco luxury bus with registration number XL 300 ABC, was heading for Abuja, when it was stopped by armed robbers at about 5.00 a.m. on the Zariagi-Lokoja-Abuja road.
Sources disclosed that after stopping the bus, all the passengers were ordered to come out from the bus and were then asked to lie face down, as they were robbed one after the other.
It was further gathered that when the passengers were being robbed, another luxury bus and a truck, also heading for the Abuja axis, ran into them, killing virtually everybody that lay on the ground.
When Nigerian Tribune contacted the Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Kogi Command, Mr Sunday Maku, he confirmed the incident.
He said that the incident took place at about 5.00 a.m. on Tuesday, saying that it was difficult for them to identify or even pick the corpses as a result of the way their bodies were mangled by the luxury bus and the truck whose drivers did not stop.
He said that they had deposited their corpses at the Federal Medical Centre and Lokoja Specialist Hospital.
In Edo, two persons were feared dead while over seven others reportedly sustained injuries on Tuesday, when armed robbers attacked a new generation bank at Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of the state.
Millions of naira were said to have been carted away in the bank robbery.
The robbery took place as the state police command said it arrested six suspected kidnappers, including those allegedly involved in the abduction of the wife of the attorney-general of the state, Mrs Florence Obayuwana.
Those paraded by the command included two women said to have feigned their own abduction.
It was gathered that the robbers, who stormed the bank with sophisticated weapons at about 8.30 a.m., fired sporadic shots into the air, a situation which sent people, including the mobile policemen at the different checkpoints in the area, scampering to safety.
"We noticed the corpses of two persons after they left but we are yet to know who the people are. Several people around that area sustained gunshot injuries and we have rushed them to Irrua Hospital for treatment. There was no resistance from the police and that is sad, because you will notice a lot of checkpoints at Uromi but when this thing happened they all ran into the bush," a source said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Peter Ogboi, who confirmed the incident, said he was yet to be briefed properly by the DPO at Uromi, with a view to finding out what really happened.
Besides, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr David Omojola, who paraded the suspected kidnappers, said they were arrested after a tip-off.
According to Omojola, the suspects confessed that the sum of N2 million was paid as ransom for the release of the attorney-general's wife.
Omojola told journalists that the two women, who reportedly feigned their own abduction, had gone into hiding to deceive their husbands that they were kidnapped by making calls through their co-conspirators, demanding a ransom of N7 million for their release.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police said the suspects and their conspirators ran out of luck, when their husbands reported the kidnap to the police, adding that upon police investigation, it was discovered that it was all a phoney claim.
Omojola added that "the women intended that the ransom be shared between them."
He said "we also recovered items such as two locally-made double barrel pistols, 14 live cartridges, seven GSM phones, N605,000 and one Audi 80 saloon car with registration number DL 807 LSD."
In another development, three people were killed on Tuesday and some injured when robbers raided Isokun branch of a first generation bank in Ilesa, Osun State.
The robbers, numbered about 10, young men in their mid-20s, were said to have stormed the bank around 9.30 a.m in a commercial bus and bombed the security door of the bank to gain entrance into the banking hall, according to an eyewitness.
They were said to have shot sporadically into the air to scare people away, a development that caused pandemonium among residents of the area, as it was the market day at Atakunmosa Market, with traders scampering for safety.
Those who died during the incident were said to have been hit by stray bullets.
The robbers succeeded in their operation, as they carted away millions of naira, which was meant to pay the monthly allowance of members of the Osun State Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and others.
The eyewitness said a mobile policeman was courageous enough to engage the robbers in a gun duel, when they were about to escape with their loots, but the cop was eventually overpowered.
All those who were hit by bullets were taken to Wesley Guild Hospital for medical attention.
Speaking on the robbery incident, the state Commissioner of police, Mr Solomon Olusegun, confirmed it, but added that he had not been properly briefed by the area commander.
Meanwhile, there was panic in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Tuesday, following rumours that robbers had invaded the town, forcing banks in the town to close in a hurry.
The rumour led to the deployment of security personnel in strategic parts of the town, as well as banks.
Commander of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ekiti State, Mr Ogbonnaya Okoronkwo, told newsmen in Ado-Ekiti that robbers were operating in Ilesa, adding that the banks that closed took the step as pre-emptive measure to avoid being caught unawares.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Mohammed Jimoh, confirmed that the robbery operation in Ilesa informed the situation, adding that this was not enough to create panic in the town.
Jimoh said the state police command had, however, beefed up security to prevent robbery in any part of the state, adding that "up till now, there was no case of robbery in any part of this state."
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