Ogun: Fulani herdsmen attack luxury bus, rob passengers, set bus ablaze

The Ogun State Police Command reported that on Friday night, armed bandits intercepted an Abakaliki-bound luxury bus, robbed all passengers, and then set it on fire.

Omolola Odutola, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, verified the event on social media. She stated that the event occurred at Oke Ado junction in Ijebu Mushin on the Ijebu Ode-Ore-Benin motorway, where a luxury bus (Mercedes Benz) was burned down by armed criminals. She went on to say, “The vehicle was coming from Maza Maza before it ran into the hoodlums.” No mention of the gun was made.

“They carried cutlasses.” Vanguard learned that the dare-devil bandits had previously stripped all 59 occupants of the bus of their valuables and locked the vehicle from the outside before lighting it on fire.

It was further gathered that the passengers smashed the glass windows, and jumped out of the bus before it was completely razed by fire.

Also confirming the incident, the management of Ifesinachi Transport Nig. Ltd, said the attacked bus belonged to the company, and that the vehicle took off from Maza Maza, Lagos, on Good Friday, en route to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, saying he was in shock over the incident.

In a distressing video shared on the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) by influencer, Chude Nnamdi, survivors recounted the harrowing experience.

“Ifesinachi Motors, we were travelling in the night to come back to the East for Easter celebration, and criminals attacked us in Ijebu Ode along Ore/Benin expressway,” one passenger lamented.

The victims described how the bandits, armed and menacing, seized their belongings and subjected them to a terrifying ordeal.

“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,” another survivor recounted.

“We thank God that we later escaped, nobody died but everything we had was collected. We thank God that we didn’t lose anyone but we lost everything we were travelling with and some sustained injuries.

“The armed robbers attacked us at Ijebu Ode. They stripped us of our dresses and belongings and beat us mercilessly. They forced us back into the bus and set it ablaze. But, we are grateful to God that nobody was burnt to death because we all managed to escape from the burning vehicle.

“Though some of us sustained injuries and we all lost our belongings because the robbers took everything with them, including the clothes some of us were wearing. We have been stranded here since 2 a.m. (Saturday morning).”