[Read]...Benin bypass: A den of robbers

All seemed alright before she fell asleep on their Port Harcourt to Lagos trip. But suddenly around 1.45pm, little Miss Samuel was rudely interrupted by shouts and cries of despair from her mother.

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” she recalled, were the words from her mum that woke her up. Only then did she realise that the 18-seater passenger bus they were travelling in, had been stopped by men of the underworld at the Benin bypass, along Benin-Onitsha Expressway.  For 15 minutes, she and other family members weren’t sure of their fate as their captors ordered them to lie face down on the road.

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“When I woke up, I saw the armed robbers around our bus and they asked us to lie face down. That was Saturday June 22, at about 1.45pm. I can never forget. I can’t forget seeing one of the robbers stabbing the bus driver four times because he had mistakenly hit him while trying to reverse and escape from the scene,” the teenager recalled.

Although she was thankful that no one was killed among the passengers, her mother still looked harassed and shocked as she narrated her own account of the incident to Saturday PUNCH.

She said it was by divine providence that the robbers didn’t shoot any of the passengers. She also said it was surprising that the robbers operated with confidence. She said the robbers had all the time to cart every bag away.

She said the driver was left in a pool of his own blood until the robbers left and sympathisers took him to the hospital.

She captured her experience thus, “We suddenly saw the bus in front of us reversing; so the driver of our own passenger bus also tried to do the same. But then, we noticed a group of young men rush to the driver, asking him to get out of the bus. Some of them were banging the body of the bus and others threatening to shoot. So, all of us were shouting.

“They broke the glass of the bus and succeeded in opening the door, pushed us down one after the other asking ‘where is the money? Where is the money’? One of them then stabbed the driver again and again. They ordered us to cross to the other side of the road.

“They had time to carry all our belongings. The driver was later taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. I was there with my daughters.

“The experience has traumatised my kids; we lost everything but we are alive. The government must do something about that road.”

The 24-kilometre dual carriageway was opened to the public in 2002 and connects Benin-Ore Road to Benin-Onitsha Road and Benin-Sapele Road.

It was meant to take inter-state traffic away from the inner roads of the Edo State capital, Benin.

Meanwhile, recent reports have shown that the Benin bypass has become a den where robbers operate regularly. In a recent discussion on social media, many contributors relived their experiences. They said private vehicles are usually the targets of the hoodlums.

She said the gangsters had taken charge of both sides of the highway such that if a victim tries to escape from one group, he falls into the hand of another.

A contributor, Obiageli, wrote, “Let the words go round please, in case our security operatives are still in the dark about this development. Benin bypass: Urgent security attention is needed on this road. There are regular reports of robbery attacks on both sides of that road.

“Reports claim that this has been going on for a while. One wonders why the security operatives have not done something about this. A lot of people were robbed on that road last Saturday.

“Let the government do the needful, security should be non-negotiable for any government that knows what it’s doing.”

Some other people, who have cause to ply that road, also attested to the fact that the gangs have consolidated their operations. They thus call for urgent action from relevant security operatives.

For instance, Dunstan Ukaga wrote, “I had reported how God saved me when I passed through that bypass in January.”

Nkem Olisa wrote, “l have had robbery scares on that spot several times!”

Uche Nwokocha wrote, “Adams Oshiomhole is the chief security officer of Edo State and over the years, he has refused to do something about this. You enjoy criticising others, but have refused to cover your area. Security is a collective effort, so let’s do the needful, let’s bombard their hotlines with this robbery cases on the Benin Bypass. There should be a police/Mopol Barracks on that route, with a 24 hours joint patrol.”

James Amalu said he almost lost a friend at that spot two Sundays ago between 10 to 11am. “I really wonder who the Edo State Commissioner of Police is?” he asked.

Spokesman for the state police command, Moses Eguavoen, said the command had been able to bring robbery incidents around the area to the barest minimum through various strategies including show of force exercises and routine security patrol.

Speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, Eguavoen said that compared to what was reported in the area before, members of the public could by themselves attest to improved security on the road.

He said, “We cannot say the road is crime-free. What we can tell you is that we have been able to bring robbery activities down, considering the strategies we have put in place in recent times. As I speak with you, our men are there.

“The presence of policemen is felt there, along that road. Various patrol teams are there along that road, with a view to making it robbery-free. Members of the public can attest to that, because we are actually doing everything possible to ensure that road users go through the route unhurt.

“In recent times, we even embarked on show of force within the town and along that route, establishing the fact that we are committed to ensuring that members of the public are safe, together with their properties.”

Eguavoen, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said efforts of the command had been yielding fruit, adding that a combined security patrol team accosted one IVECO truck on Wednesday.

He said, “The command patrol team attached to Operation Thunderstorm was on patrol along Benin/Lagos Road, when they stopped one IVECO truck with plate number Abuja XP 301 KUJ, for a routine stop and search. The driver, instead of stopping, zoomed off and was given a hot chase.

“When he (driver) discovered that the team was close at him, he stopped the vehicle and ran into the bush along with two passengers inside the vehicle. The vehicle was thereafter brought to the state CID, where investigation is currently going on.”

Speaking further on the seizure, he said a number of items, including sealed cartons with inscriptions, ‘Yagana Yusuf, Fatimah Dumona, Aljah Mairo, Job Moses and Patrick, all of Abuja’, and requested owners of the goods to come forward with proof of ownership.

-Punch

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