New Year’s Eve attack: Six killed, others injured in Ondo robbery incident

Armed robbers and suspected kidnappers on New Year’s Eve invaded the Uso/Owo road in the Owo Local Government Area of Ondo state,  killing six people while several others were injured

The armed hoodlums who dressed in police uniforms blocked the road in the late evening shooting sporadically to stop motorists and resident of the community.

An eyewitness said suspected armed robbers stopped motorists on the highway and killed two people who were travelling on the motorcycles saying the two men were riddled with bullets

He explained that four other people who were shot by the armed bandit were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, but gave up before getting to the hospital.

He said one of the victims, Fatai Awosusi, who was on his way to Ipeme to celebrate the New Year festival with his friends was hit and killed by the armed robbers’ bullets.

Awosusi was shot along the Owo/Akure road died at University of Medical Sciences(UNIMED), Teaching Hospital in Ondo.

Another eyewitness who is a lecturer in the Department of Languages, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, (RUGIPO) identified as Dr Ayodele said she was travelling to Akure with some of her friends but said they were miraculously saved from the kidnappers on the dreaded Akure-Owo expressway.

She said “We were fortunate to escape the armed robbery attack on the Akure / Owo road. This happened between Ogbese and Uso; some two minutes drive to Uso from Ogbese. We were practically in face-to-face with death. Some people were killed. We had a very narrow escape.  Praise God on our behalf.”

Some of the victims who suffered gunshot were said to have been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre

A resident of the area said the action of the suspected armed robbers and kidnappers was in retaliation of the invasion of kidnappers’ den by security agencies last week where some hoodlums were arrested.

Reacting to the incident, Dr Raman Abubakri of the Department of Mass Communication who escaped being kidnapping in the axis called on the government to find a lasting solution to the incessant kidnappings on the road.

He said: “The soldiers’  fire brigade approach is not the solution. Provision should be made for soldiers to be constant on the notorious road. Besides, the thick bushes at the right and left sides should be cleared for about 100 meters from the main road.

“These measures will checkmate the boldness of the criminals who are now desperate to make money at all cost”.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph,  who confirmed the incident said their people were killed by the armed bandit during the shooting.

He said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO)  in charge of Uso has been queried by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Gbenga Adeyanju, saying the incident occurred because of the negligence of the officers in charge of the area.

Joseph said men of the command in the area have been ordered to beef up security in the area to forsee such occurrence but however said detectives from the state police command are on the trail of the hoodlums

It would be recalled that kidnapping has been on the increase in the axis in recent times leading to the death of a lecturer in the polytechnic, while the state government has beefed up security on the road with police stationed at some strategic places.