Police blame driver, company for attack on bus

June, 2012 by Sodiq Oyeleke

Some of the workers of the transport company at their Jibowu office, Lagos, after the robbery.
| credits: Sodiq Oyeleke

The Ogun State Police Command has blamed the driver and company operating the vehicle that was attacked by armed robbers around Sagamu area last Tuesday.

The bus, which carried Abuja bound passengers from Lagos, was attacked by three gunmen, who also boarded the bus posing as passengers.

Apart from robbing the passengers, the robbers also raped two girls in the bus.

However, the command in a statement on Thursday said there was no report of attack on any passenger bus in the state.

It nonetheless faulted the company for not searching the passengers before they boarded the bus.

It stated, “It is important to say that the preliminary investigations carried out so far and comments from the robbery victims revealed some elements of conspiracy or connivance on the part of the driver and/or the company since they failed to conduct routine search on the passengers and report the incident to the police, despite requests made for such report from the affected victims.

“However, the command has every cause to believe that there was a robbery attack on the bus around Mowe area but could not dwell much on the rape allegation for now since the ‘victims’ have not been seen for interrogation.”

The statement further said the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoye Ikemefuna, has ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.

Gbenga Vaughan, a relative of one of the pupils that was robbed, Feyisan, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said the driver asked the passengers not to report to the police.

“The driver was the one who told them not to report to the police. He assured them that everything will be well taken care of by his company,” he said.

Vaughan noted that the case was later reported to the Sabo Divisional Police, Lagos, to enable the pupils to get a report that their documents were stolen during the robbery.

“I am sure the pupils did not know the implication of their not informing the police immediately and that is why they agreed with the driver,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nelson Okeleke, the Station Manager of Ifesinachi Bus Transit, the operator of the bus, declined comment when he was contacted on the phone on Thursday.

“Can’t I prefer to be silent? This is an infringement on my right to privacy,” he said.

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Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE

Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner