Gunmen dressed in military uniforms reportedly attacked commuters travelling on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Tuesday.
The gunmen suspected to be kidnappers stormed the road from the bush before the Sagamu Interchange en route Lagos and started shooting at motorists in the 18-passenger inter-state bus.
According to one of the victims who craved anonymity, “We (passengers) were only lucky to escape the gunmen but many of us have been injured by the bullets and our bus has been badly damaged too.”
Another video shows a man who survived bullet wounds recounting his experience saying, “I thought I was dead, having been shot by them.
“They faced our vehicle shooting at us, we all lay down except the driver who was the target. They thought we were all dead and retreated into the bush.
“The joint patrol team of police officers from Ogun and Oyo states arrived at the scene later.”
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the attack, adding that the police foiled it.
The police spokesman, however, said he was not aware if any passenger was injured during the incident.
He said, “The report sent to me by the DPO, who was on ground, did not indicate that any passenger was shot.
“The incident happened yesterday (Tuesday); our men that were there engaged them and they foiled the attempt to kidnap people travelling on that road. The policemen engaged them and even some of them escaped with bullet wounds.”
Recall that suspected bandits in military camouflage attacked travellers at the Sat Guru Maharaji Garden, Ibadan end of the expressway, on October 27, abducting five persons and killing several others.
Among the kidnapped victims were students of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Adigun Agbaje.
One of the victims, Aminat Taiwo, later said her father paid N3.2m to the kidnappers before she and her friend were released.
A security expert, Jackson Ojo, said the frequent attacks by kidnappers in the South-West showed they had penetrated every state.
He said, “I think our government should wake up and have the political will to attack these people and comb every part of Nigeria at the same time.
“Let there be raids on these people simultaneously so there won’t be any escape route or haven for them again.”
