A driver, Samson Olanrewaju, has described his experience of cutlass and knife-wielding bandits, attacking and robbing him of his possessions.
In a Monday interview, Olanrewaju stated that he and other drivers in the Ido region along the Third Mainland Bridge were robbed on Friday at approximately 8:30 p.m. by bandits who could have numbered as many as seven.
Olanrewaju, who is the Deputy Chairman of the African Action Congress in the state, said,
“I was coming back from work at Lekki, so I drove down the Third Mainland Bridge towards Ido, close to Ijora Olopa where the incident happened. There was light traffic. Those guys were robbing two cars ahead of me already. I couldn’t reverse because there was traffic. I immediately wound up the glass to at least protect myself.
“But as soon as they finished with those two cars, I just heard sounds from the two sides of my car, they broke the side windscreen and began demanding my phone and other things. They entered and removed money from my safe. They had cutlasses and knives. One of them removed everything in my safe, and made away with my power bank, an iPhone 6, and a laptop.”
Olanrewaju claimed that when he hurried to the police station to report the occurrence, a police officer demanded N3,000 from him in order to get his report recorded, thus aggravating his agony.
Our correspondent learned from another victim, Adetunji, that he was also victimized that same night, and that the robbers took N15,000, his phone, and his wallet.
“It was like a film. I have been hearing about these highway robbers but I never expected that I would be a victim. They took advantage of the traffic, came out of nowhere, and started breaking people’s windows, they removed the side mirror of my car.
“My phone, cash, and N15,000 were gone. I later got home to find out that my wallet was also not where I placed it in the car. They are small boys, some of them teenagers,” he said.
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police in the area would review their strategy to improve security on the road.
The PPRO said, “We have linked him (Olanrewaju) up with the DPO and they are working hand-in-hand. He has given the DPO the necessary information that will help the DPO to review his anti-crime strategy in his domain.
“We are working on it and we believe that with the review of his strategies, such won’t happen again in that place.”
He added that the policeman who asked for N3,000 had been identified and invited to the headquarters while appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against her.
