On Mile Two-Badagry Expressway, muggers reign
AS usual, Mrs. Theresa Oboro, 61, left her fish shop at Agbara Town last Tuesday at about 7.30 p.m., boarding an 18-seater commuter bus for her home behind Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Lagos.
Before the bus got to Federal Government College, Ijanikin, about four kilometres away, the number of passengers had risen to 15-five females , 10 males ,excluding the driver and the bus conductor.
According to Oboro, the screeching of tyres on the sandy football field between the College and the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) woke her from her reverie.
Suddenly, she knew that something unusual was about to happen.
She had no more than 10 seconds to switch off her two phones, tuck them into a purse and chucked it between the seat and the body of the bus.
She, however, had no time to get out of her bag the cash sales of the day amounting to over N75,000 before the orders rang out from two ‘passengers’ who were menacingly pointing pistols at the faces of the others, warning them to “co-operate or else blood, will flow now, now”.
According to her, one of the ‘passengers’ on the front seat was one of two robbers while the second sat in the middle seat.
“It was the robber in the front seat that ordered the driver to divert off into the sandy football field. It was already dark. The field was empty. Other vehicles zoomed past us without an inkling of what was happening to us a few metres from the potholed-section of the expressway.
“One by one, all the passengers were asked to disembark. The men were searched and all their phones, wallets and money taken from them. The women’s bags were yanked from us and bras squeezed for hidden cash,” she said.
According to Oboro, the entire operation did not take more than a few minutes.
“The operation over, all of us were herded back into the bus, the driver ordered to drive back to the road and warned that a ‘shout from just one person and we will shoot anyhow, do you all understand?’ and we nodded our heads.
“The driver and the conductor were also frisked and robbed. It was at the point of driving back unto the tarred road that we noticed by the roadside, a parked motorcycle, the rider astride it and the engine running.
The robbers ran to it, all three climbed on and rode off in the opposite direction,” she said.
What Oboro and her fellow passengers went through, now seems a regular occurrence on the Mile Two-Badagry Expressway.
Many commuter bus drivers yesterday confirmed similar stories of occupants of vehicles in traffic hold up, after dusk, being robbed between Trade Fair Bus Stop to Ojo Barracks and Okokomaiko stretch of the road.
One such driver plying Mile Two-Okokomaiko, Jelili Mumunni, told The Guardian: “ For the past three or four weeks, we have been seeing these armed robbers harassing motorists and their passengers , especially once it is getting dark.
“They swoop on vehicles in twos or threes , threatening to shoot anyone who fails to cooperate . The worst spots for these robberies are Trade Fair Bus Stop and from Barracks to Iyana-Oba bus stops.
“We thank God whenever we drive past those notorious places without incident.”
Another bus driver, Tosin, said he robbers might not be unconnected with soldiers at Ojo Barracks .
“Since there is now so much security checks at the barracks, some idle and reckless relations of soldiers have come back to the expressway in the evening to waylay innocent people.
Robberies on the expressway went down at a time until recently.
The traffic jam and the bad portions of the expressway seem to be helping these robbers a lot and truly, the key to stopping robberies on the expressway lies in the barracks.
“Will the police go into the barracks to arrest fleeing robbers? Are the soldiers in the barracks likely to fish out their children or relatives implicated in robbing people on the highway?” he asked.
A taxi driver also at Mile 2, Joe Etuk, said the deplorable, pothole-filled international highway that traps vehicles for hours-on end affords the jobless youths ample time to swoop on vehicles and rob the occupants.
He also suggested that the night trading at Iyana-Oba and Alaba Rago bus stops should either be banned or the traders relocated further inside to clear the road of traffic hold up.
“We know that government does not have funds to reconstruct the expressway yet. But it can afford to do little portions such as the relocation of the markets at Iyano-Oba and Alaba Rago inside, far from the expressway for traffic to flow well.”
The Lagos State Police Command spokesman, Ngozi Braide, an Assistant Superintendent said police divisions in the area had been instructed to increase surveillance in those trouble-spots.
She gave assurance that the Command was ready to ensure that the diminishing rate of crime, including armed robbery, was even improved upon.
She called on Lagosians to always give useful information to the police.
Before the bus got to Federal Government College, Ijanikin, about four kilometres away, the number of passengers had risen to 15-five females , 10 males ,excluding the driver and the bus conductor.
According to Oboro, the screeching of tyres on the sandy football field between the College and the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) woke her from her reverie.
Suddenly, she knew that something unusual was about to happen.
She had no more than 10 seconds to switch off her two phones, tuck them into a purse and chucked it between the seat and the body of the bus.
She, however, had no time to get out of her bag the cash sales of the day amounting to over N75,000 before the orders rang out from two ‘passengers’ who were menacingly pointing pistols at the faces of the others, warning them to “co-operate or else blood, will flow now, now”.
According to her, one of the ‘passengers’ on the front seat was one of two robbers while the second sat in the middle seat.
“It was the robber in the front seat that ordered the driver to divert off into the sandy football field. It was already dark. The field was empty. Other vehicles zoomed past us without an inkling of what was happening to us a few metres from the potholed-section of the expressway.
“One by one, all the passengers were asked to disembark. The men were searched and all their phones, wallets and money taken from them. The women’s bags were yanked from us and bras squeezed for hidden cash,” she said.
According to Oboro, the entire operation did not take more than a few minutes.
“The operation over, all of us were herded back into the bus, the driver ordered to drive back to the road and warned that a ‘shout from just one person and we will shoot anyhow, do you all understand?’ and we nodded our heads.
“The driver and the conductor were also frisked and robbed. It was at the point of driving back unto the tarred road that we noticed by the roadside, a parked motorcycle, the rider astride it and the engine running.
The robbers ran to it, all three climbed on and rode off in the opposite direction,” she said.
What Oboro and her fellow passengers went through, now seems a regular occurrence on the Mile Two-Badagry Expressway.
Many commuter bus drivers yesterday confirmed similar stories of occupants of vehicles in traffic hold up, after dusk, being robbed between Trade Fair Bus Stop to Ojo Barracks and Okokomaiko stretch of the road.
One such driver plying Mile Two-Okokomaiko, Jelili Mumunni, told The Guardian: “ For the past three or four weeks, we have been seeing these armed robbers harassing motorists and their passengers , especially once it is getting dark.
“They swoop on vehicles in twos or threes , threatening to shoot anyone who fails to cooperate . The worst spots for these robberies are Trade Fair Bus Stop and from Barracks to Iyana-Oba bus stops.
“We thank God whenever we drive past those notorious places without incident.”
Another bus driver, Tosin, said he robbers might not be unconnected with soldiers at Ojo Barracks .
“Since there is now so much security checks at the barracks, some idle and reckless relations of soldiers have come back to the expressway in the evening to waylay innocent people.
Robberies on the expressway went down at a time until recently.
The traffic jam and the bad portions of the expressway seem to be helping these robbers a lot and truly, the key to stopping robberies on the expressway lies in the barracks.
“Will the police go into the barracks to arrest fleeing robbers? Are the soldiers in the barracks likely to fish out their children or relatives implicated in robbing people on the highway?” he asked.
A taxi driver also at Mile 2, Joe Etuk, said the deplorable, pothole-filled international highway that traps vehicles for hours-on end affords the jobless youths ample time to swoop on vehicles and rob the occupants.
He also suggested that the night trading at Iyana-Oba and Alaba Rago bus stops should either be banned or the traders relocated further inside to clear the road of traffic hold up.
“We know that government does not have funds to reconstruct the expressway yet. But it can afford to do little portions such as the relocation of the markets at Iyano-Oba and Alaba Rago inside, far from the expressway for traffic to flow well.”
The Lagos State Police Command spokesman, Ngozi Braide, an Assistant Superintendent said police divisions in the area had been instructed to increase surveillance in those trouble-spots.
She gave assurance that the Command was ready to ensure that the diminishing rate of crime, including armed robbery, was even improved upon.
She called on Lagosians to always give useful information to the police.
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