Re: Robbers take charge-IGP's Press Conference

Template Tools

Written by Administrator

Friday, 05 March 2010 12:52

PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE, OGBONNA OKECHUKWU ONOVO, OON, NPM, mni,

AT THE CONFERENCE HALL, LOUIS EDET HOUSE, ABUJA

ON THURSDAY 5TH MARCH, 2010

Gentlemen of the Press,

I find it very expedient to address the Press for the purpose of acquainting you and the nation at large with the recent publication in one of widely read newspaper. It would be recalled that Leadership Newspaper reported a case of armed robbery along Benin – Lagos Expressway titled “Robbers take charge” and in our efforts to unravel the mystery behind the scene and the location of the incident, as published by the newspaper. A diligent investigation was carried out and the followings were the facts.

FACT OF THE CASE: On 1st August, 2009 at about 0700hrs, information was received at Obalende Police Division in Ogun State that on 31st July, 2009 at about 2330hrs, a Luxurious bus with Reg. No. XF 285 AKD driven by one Oke Okafor ‘m’ of Ifite Village in Oyi LGA of Anambra State, a driver with Young Shall Grow Motors Limited Maza maza Lagos, loaded with unspecified number of passengers traveling from Enugu enroute Lagos, on reaching a point between Federal Government College, Odogbolu and Babcock University junction, along the Ijebu-Ode/Shagamu expressway, the luxurious bus was forcefully stopped by a gang of suspected armed robbers. The armed bandits ordered the passengers out of the bus and made them to lie face down on the expressway. An on-coming truck with Reg. No. XN 8089 BEN driven by one Osayinde Idahosa ‘m’ of No. 1 Ewetubo Egbe Estate Benin City who refused to stop when ordered by the armed robbers, in the process crushed some of the passengers to death. A total of nineteen passengers which included six (6) female and thirteen (13) male were crushed to death by the truck.

FINDINGS: In the course of investigations, following findings emerged:

i.            That on 31/7/2009 at about 2330hrs, a Luxurious bus with Reg. No. XF 285 AKD driven by one Oke Okafor ‘m’ of Anambra State, loaded with unspecified numbers of passengers travelling from Enugu enroute Lagos were attacked by a gang of armed bandits at a spot between Federal Government College Odogbolu and Babcock University along Ijebu-Ode/Shagamu expressway;

ii.          That during the attack, the suspected armed robbers ordered the passengers of the Luxurious bus out of the vehicle and made them to lie face down on the expressway;

iii.        That an on-coming truck with Reg. No. XN 808 BEN, driven by one Osayinde Idahosa ‘m’ of No 1 Ewetubo Egbe Estate Benin City, who refused to stop as ordered by the armed bandits crushed some of the passengers to death;

iv.      That a total of nineteen (19) passengers of the Luxurious bus which includes six (6) female and thirteen (13) male victims were crushed to death by the truck.

v.        That the corpses of the dead passengers were conveyed and deposited at the Ogun State University Teaching Hospital (OSUTH) Sagamu Mortuary for post-mortem examination, while two (2) of the injured passengers were also taken to the hospital for treatment and were later discharged.

vi.      That the hoodlums escaped from the scene of the incident immediately before the arrival of the Police team;

vii.    That both the Policemen from Obalende Division led by the DPO CSP Ayodele Sonubi, the Area Commander Ijebu-Ode Late ACP Omolodun Oladokun and the former Commissioner of Police, Ogun State, CP Hashimu Salihu Argungu were at the scene of the incident and assisted by officials of the FRSC to convey the corpses of the dead and injured passengers to the hospital.

viii. That the surrounding bushes and villages were thoroughly combed for possible arrest of the hoodlums but no arrest was made;

ix.      That the manifest found in the Luxurious bus showed that a total of forty one (41) passengers were in the vehicle;

x.        That some of the passengers who survived the robbery attack were said to have fled from the scene out of panic on the gory sight of the crushed victims.

xi.      That there was no Police escort attached to the Luxurious bus as confirmed by the driver Oke Okafor who survived the incident;

xii.            That the case of robbery was transferred to State CID Abeokuta for discreet investigation while Motor Traffic Division Obalende handled the traffic aspect with case diary No. RRA/49/09 opened for the case;

xiii. That the case file in respect of the traffic aspect of the case has been duplicated and forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice;

xiv. That so far, ten (10) of the corpses have been identified and collected by their relatives for burial after proper identification and documentation;

xv.    That some of the corpses were crushed beyond recognition and yet to be identified or collected by their relations or kinsmen; and

xvi. That effort is still on for possible arrest of the culprits who were responsible for the ugly incident.

CONCLUSION: At this juncture let me inform Nigerians and foreigners alike that there was a case of armed robbery and Road Traffic Accident on 1st August, 2009, where nineteen (19) persons were crushed by a truck driver at the scene of robbery incident and this was reported by national newspapers. One then wondered the motive behind Leadership Newspaper publication to misinform the general public that the incident happened on 25th February, 2010. This country belongs to all of us and we have role to play as citizens of this great nation to make it conducive for economic growth and development the aspiration we are all yeaning for.

May I use this medium to assure all law abiding citizens that, the Nigeria Police Force is ever ready to protect life and property as it is enshrined in our laws.   We will continue to appreciate and act on all information about crime and criminal activities whenever such is made available to us.

Thank you for your attention.

Comments

RSS

Only registered users can write comments!