Armed robbers on Thursday evening barricaded the Lagos \ Benin Expressway. A passenger was shot dead while others were injured.
Kizito
The hoodlums struck at Ore, Ondo State axis, robbing passengers unchallenged.
Many lived to tell narrate their ordeals, but one man who was unlucky was Kizito Okonkwor, a native of Ubulu – Uku, Aniocha – SSouth, Delta State, who was shot dead.
Narrating their ordeals, a passenger, Zubi Ilobutaife , said :” I was coming to Lagos from Benin and I boarded a bus and we set out for Lagos. The journey was so smooth until we arrived Ore, Ondo State , where armed robbers barricaded the road with a bus. Our driver made a detour, but as he was trying to zoom off, some of the hoodlums who were in vintage positions, opened fire on us.
They riddled our vehicles with bullets. Unfortunately, many of the passengers were hit by bullets , but one person died instantly . Other victims were rushed to the hospital .
” The way it is , we are not safe in Nigeria. The hoodlums took on the advantage of security lapses to unleash mayhem on passengers . I was told that the robbers operated for about an hour, yet there was no confrontation by security agents .I want to sincerely appealed to the government to do something urgent or hoodlums will take over the entire road.”
Family members said the deceased was shot in the stomach and he died on the way to the hospital .
According to a cousin , Alfraid Okonkwor , Kizito as he was fondly called , visited their home town , Ubulu -Uku for the burial of his grandmother ” which was on September 8, after which he stayed a little while to put things in order. We all came from Lagos for the burial ceremony. On our way back to Lagos , Kizito decided to stop over in Benin . He slept over because he had so many friends and relations in Benin.
It was the following day that he was returning to Lagos that the bandits attacked the commercial bus he boarded. He was shot in the stomach and he died on the way to the hospital.
” He has just been buried amidst tears because Kizito was loved by many . He was a good man. He was hardworking since his father died a long time age when Kizito was so small. He was not deterred by his father’s demise as he continued with the struggle .His mother will miss him badly , because he was really taking care of the woman. We are missing him too. May his soul continue to hunt those who cut him off in his youthful age “.
Another relative, Ngozi wondered why it was only him that was killed in the vehicle , ” why did this happen to the young guy? He was not the only person that was shot, other victims sustained injuries and they are responding to treatment. Why did he not sustain injuries like others? The hands that fired the shot will not know peace .
They have murdered sleep and they will sleep no more. I want to call on the Police to secure our roads. Why should robbers have the effrontery to barricade the road and operated for hours without being confronted by security agents? I was told that my cousin was alive when the police arrived at the scene, but he was not taking to the hospital as soon as possible.
May be he would have survived. The police should be swift in responding to distress calls and consider the plight of gun shot victims. They should not delay in taking the victims to the hospital. The IGP should wade into this matter and declare a state of emergency on Lagos Benin \ Ore road as people are being robbed daily on the road. IGP should also question the highway patrol team on the axis where they were during the robbery attacks on people on Thursday “.
