For over 40 minutes, armed robbers were on the rampage on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in southwest Nigeria on Thursday, snatching vehicles and other valuables from commuters.
Top government officials in Ekiti State became targets of armed robbers as three of them have lost their cars to the bandits, the Nation newspaper reported Friday.
No fewer than 10 cars have been snatched in the past two weeks in which the victims were held hostage at gunpoint before being made to part with their valuables.
Among the high-profile robbery victims are the Commissioner for Local Government and Culture, Prince Biodun Bamiteko, Commissioner in the State Universal Basic Education Board Iyabo Babatunde and the Permanent Secretary, Establishment and Training Lekan Ayeleso.
Bamiteko and Babatunde were robbed of their Toyota Camry and Toyota Avensis 2008 model cars at gunpoint.
Ayeleso's home at Ado-Ekiti GRA was attacked by robbers who made away with his car and other valuables.
Babatunde told reporters Thursday that five armed robbers broke into her home at about 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Sunday and in the 45-minute operation, made away with her Toyota Avensis car, money and other valuables.
She said many houses in Ado-Ekiti GRA were raided with some of the residents beaten up.
The increasing wave of robbery in Ado-Ekiti has also affected night life as many fun-seekers now go home early so as not to fall victim of the robbers.
National Chairman of the Action Congress (AC) Chief Bisi Akandeand his wife, were among those who ran into the armed bandits at Sapade, Isara-Remo, Ogun State around 9 a.m. (2000 GMT).
He had left Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for Lagos to attend the swearing in of local government chairmen by Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN). He missed the ceremony.
Amid sporadic shootings, there was commotion as vehicles on the other side of the road turned back.
In panic, many abandoned their vehicles and ran for cover in the nearby bush.
There was wailing on the road as the armed robbers seized car keys, molested drivers and forced people to part with their money and other belongings.
Akande, who was stuck in the hold-up, was quickly spirited away by his security aide as the robbers advanced on his vehicle. He took cover in the bush.
The moment of horror, he said at his Ogudu, Lagos home yesterday, rekindled his criticism of the porous security situation in the country and his agitation for state police.
The former Osun State governor said although he had witnessed robberies in the past, he had never seen armed robbers at a closer range.
"But today we really ran into them and we saw them face-to-face. My security assistant advised me not to wait to confront them face-to-face," Akande said.
"I saw people wailing and running towards me when I looked up and I saw many cars turning. But, before we could turn, many vehicles were behind us," he said.
Akande said he escaped into a wet bush close to a river, with insects swarming all over him.
He also said respite came about 40 minutes later when policemen arrived after the armed robbers had left.
"As soon as we have state police, local government police will follow. Company police will follow. Family police will follow. Street police will follow, each of them having different authorities," he said.
Akande warned that the porous security situation in the country would drive away foreign investors, thereby aggravating economic recession and unemployment.
He asked the government to re-construct the road, saying: "The bad state of the road is a contributor to the armed robbery problem."
Source:Xinhua
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