On Saturday, a distressing incident unfolded at Oke Ado Junction, Ijebu-mushin, along the Ijebu-Ode-Benin Expressway, where armed individuals targeted and plundered a luxury bus. The passengers, en route to the southeast for Easter celebrations, found themselves at the mercy of these criminals.
After seizing belongings from the passengers, the assailants took the drastic step of setting the bus on fire, compounding the travelers’ ordeal.
SP Omolola Odutola, spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, confirmed the incident on Sunday, shedding light on the modus operandi of the criminals. She stated, “It happened at Oke Ado junction in Ijebu Mushin. A luxury Mercedes Benz bus was burnt down. The vehicle was coming from Maza Maza before encountering the hoodlums. No reference to guns was made. They (the hoodlums) wielded cutlasses.”
The bus, with a capacity of 59 passengers, belonged to Ifesinachi Transport Limited. In a video shared on social media by Chude Nnamdi, some of the affected passengers recounted their harrowing experience, detailing how the bandits ransacked their possessions before setting the vehicle ablaze.
One passenger lamented, “Ifesinachi Motors. We were traveling at night to return to the East for Easter celebration, and criminals attacked us in Ijebu Ode along Ore-Benin Expressway. They robbed us of everything we had, some they stripped half-naked. They locked us inside the 59-seater luxury bus and set it ablaze. We thank God that we later escaped; nobody died, but everything we had was taken.”
Expressing gratitude for their survival, the passenger continued, “We thank God that we didn’t lose anyone, but we lost everything we were traveling with and some sustained injuries. This is Ifesinachi Motors that we were traveling with on Friday night, and this attack happened around 2 am. They stripped us half-naked. You can see it; the people in the vehicle are completely stranded. There are some people who were macheted and some who broke their legs. We have children among us.”
