Victim Recounts Ordeal as Armed Robbers Renew Old Style in Lagos

Segun Atanda/

 

Robbers operating in commercial buses are back in Lagos.

A victim of this old style of robbery known in Lagos as ‘One Chance’ has recounted her ordeal on her Tweeter handle – @MissLanks.

The victim, Omolanke Oni who is a legal practitioner, told how she lost N647, 000 to the gang of armed robbers when she boarded a bus with her cousin at Masha area of Surulere.

Here is Omolanke’s story:

“On Friday 19, 2018 my cousin and I were headed to work from Surulere, Masha axis to be precise. We left home around 5.30am (this was to enable us to beat the traffic that has gotten worse over the past week).

“We got to Masha round about and boarded a bus heading to CMS. There were three passengers in the bus as at the time we boarded. Other passengers were also picked up before we got to the national stadium. So, for a 13-seater bus, we were 3 passengers short.

“The conductor asked me to move from the last row to the row directly behind the driver for my convenience as they were going to pick a regular passenger who had loads. Other passengers picked were also given these excuses.

“Subsequently, these movements (change of seats) sandwiched my cousin and I between 2 guys on our different rows.

“On getting to the foot of Eko Bridge, vehicles were already making U-turns from the bridge to access the under-bridge, and our bus also followed suit, after which the bus made a turn under the Iponri Bridge with the pretence of taking the back streets of Iponri community.

“Immediately after the turn, the bus faced Alaka and in less than a split second, with a noise indicating the beginning of the robbery.

“They strangled us for several seconds before forcefully making us sit on the floor of the bus.

“The bus was on the move while we were being robbed of all our possessions. Our bags were ransacked and phones were taken.

“The robbers painstakingly went through our phone apps and asked us questions about our deposits.

“After they had obtained our bank information and also armed with our ATM Cards and pin, two of the robbers alighted at various spots apparently to make withdrawals from our bank accounts.

“The conductor received a call from one of the guys that previously alighted and before we knew what was happening, the conductor started punching me in the face and called me a liar.

“The guys were picked again and the beating on us resumed. They forcefully made me transfer money from my Diamond savings to my DiamondXtra since my ATM is only linked to the latter. I transferred the sum of N60, 000.

“The robbers then frantically searched for my @gtbank ATM card, as they had gone through my transaction alert on my phone. While all these were going on, we were threatened with several sorts of assaults including rape.

“They also asked about my international passport… The conductor inquired about the visas I had on it, how much I paid to renew and how long it took before I got my new passport.

“Subsequently, the guys went back again and after driving for a while, they were picked up and they gave us pep talk as to how to conduct ourselves when we alight from the vehicle.

“Our bags were returned to us and we were made to sit up on the bus seats. They lifted their guns up and reminded us that if we attempted any call for help, we would be shot down.

“My cousin and I came down from the bus and the bus drove off. We made inquiries as to where we were and we were subsequently helped by a Good Samaritan who lived in the estate (Anthony Enahoro Estate, Sogunro, Ogba).

“This was around 6.30/7am. A neighbor from the estate offered us a lift to V.I, as my cousin who is an educator was still going to work as she was to head the PTA meeting. I alighted at Jibowu Yaba and headed to the banks @cenbank @gtbank_help @DiamondBankNG, @ Ojuelegba, coincidentally @DiamondBankNG & @gtbank were on the same stretch so I went into the former first where I explained my ordeal and a restriction was immediately placed on my accounts and my card. The customer care rep confirmed the N60, 000.

“***Withdrawal. I also went to @gtbank, I got the information I dreaded most. The customer care rep informed that my balance was N2000. This meant that N587, 000.00 had been taken from my account @cenbank.

“I asked that a restriction be placed on the account and card blocked but I was made to fill a form and write a letter before these instructions can be taken “protocol demands”…

“After filling the form and writing the letter in the most emotionally distraught state and weeping, I submitted the documents and asked for a statement of my account reflecting the day’s transactions.

“I was informed that the transactions carried out via POS machines take 24hours to reflect, hence I would need to make the request on Monday, October 22, 2018.

“The rep, however, gave me a breakdown of the transactions and informed me that the bulk of the withdrawals were done via @ZenithBank ATM & POS machine.

“I asked when the bank would get back to me on the investigation and I was brutally and without a conscience informed that I can only get feedback after 45days!!!”

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