Gun-wielding bandits jumped on the highway, forced to me to stop, kidnapped six of my passengers – Driver narrates ordeal
Emmanuel Owoicho, a commercial driver with Benue Links, has narrated how his Lagos-bound vehicle was intercepted by armed bandits who robbed and abducted six passengers from the vehicle somewhere in Kogi State, last Saturday.
It was gathered that six people, including some corps members and a pregnant woman, were abducted from the vehicle.
The visibly shaken driver, who spoke to newsmen, yesterday, via telephone, said he had picked 13 passengers in Gboko town and started the ill-fated Lagos journey at about 10am that day.
He said his vehicle was, however, intercepted by two gun-wielding bandits who jumped on the highway and forcefully asked him to stop at about 4pm, shortly after he passed Ayingba, in Kogi State.
“On Saturday, I was travelling to Lagos. So, after Ayingba, the place is called the Ochada junction. On reaching there, around after 4pm, I saw some men coming out from the bush and started shooting at us. I wanted to go ahead, but later I realised that if I did that, they would riddle the bus with bullets. So, I parked.
Owoicho told Nigeria Standard that as soon as he stopped the 14-seater bus, other members of the gang, numbering about six, came out from the bush and joined the initial two to rob him and all the passengers.
“They collected our money, phones, everything we had. Then they asked us to lie on the road, but on sighting a trailer on high-speed approaching, their leader asked us to get up and lie down by the roadside. He now asked six people, including a pregnant woman, to follow him; three men and three females, into the bush.
“I called back my passengers and we got to a Naval Checkpoint and reported the incident to them. They and some vigilantes asked me to take them to the spot of the incident. After over 30 to 40 minutes of searching, they came back to say they could not find the kidnappers. The next day, which was Sunday, I went to the Police Station in Ayingba to formally report the incident and they instructed me to go.
I then took the remaining passengers back to Gboko.
“I had left Gboko after 10am on that Saturday and got to that junction at about 4pm. I picked up 13 passengers from Gboko on that day, and they kidnapped six. They collected N42, 000.00 from me.
“The kidnappers are demanding N10 million ransom from those kidnapped, but their families are negotiating between N750,000.00 and N450,000.00. There is an orphan girl whose family said they only have N80,000.00.
“Among those kidnapped is a pregnant woman who left her phone in the vehicle. Her husband came and we handed the phone and her luggage back to him. I feel sad about the whole incident. And every night since the incident, I’ve been praying that the kidnapped victims are all released as soon as possible,” the driver said.
