Osun: Robbers attack travellers, shoot driver, rape female passenger

• The robbers were said to have attacked travellers on Ife-Osu highway in the early hours of Thursday.

A clutch of rampaging armed robbers have unleashed terror on motorists in Osun State.

The robbers were said to have attacked travellers on Ife-Osu highway in the early hours of Thursday.

They shot a driver and also raped a female passenger, according to the police in the southwest state.

They also robbed other motorists, forcing them to empty their bank accounts and seizing their ATMs.

The acting Police Public Relations Officer, Osun State Police Command, Emmanuel Giwa-Alade, confirmed the incident.

Giwa-Alade said: “The incident happened. I got a briefing about it not long ago and we were able to apprehend one suspect. He is helping our investigation.”

He disclosed that two vehicles were attacked by armed robbers who “shot the driver and raped a female passenger.”

He also disclosed that “a suspect had been arrested in connection with the crime.”

A passenger who spoke in confidence with newsmen due to safety concerns, said the robbers who numbered about eight, had stopped a commercial bus coming from Lagos and a private car.

He disclosed that they ordered the passengers to disembark and collected large sums of money from them.

“We were out of Ife but yet to reach Osu community when our vehicles were stopped by the robbers. They were about eight in number and they carried guns.

“The driver of the bus was shot, but he didn’t die. He was injured. One of the passengers in the car, a woman was raped. They collected the money we had and our ATM cards. They made us transfer various amounts into their account. They later handed our cards to one of the gang members,” he narrated.

The passenger also revealed that some passengers fled into the bush during the commotion.

“They told us they told some people they saw as they were wandering in the area that robbers were operating nearby and security men were mobilised to the area.

“A few minutes after the robbers left us, I saw policemen, vigilante members, and some men wearing the uniform of Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service, arriving and they began to comb the area. They arrested one of the robbers. The security men took the suspect arrested away,” he said