Our luxury bus set ablaze with 59 passengers shows terrorism – Ifesinachi

Our luxury bus set ablaze with 59 passengers shows terrorism – Ifesinachi

 

Ifesinachi Transport Nigeria Limited has said its fully-loaded luxury bus waylaid last Friday by armed robbers and set ablaze while all the passengers were on board is a smack of terrorism.

Managing Director/CEO of Ifesinachi, Prince Emeka Mamah, stated this, adding that he was still in shock over the new dimension to highway robbery.

He urged the police and other relevant security agencies to investigate the incident and prevent it from becoming a norm.

The Abakaliki-bound luxury bus was attacked at Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State end of the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, and set the vehicle ablaze with all the passengers on board.

The robbers had earlier stripped them of their belongings, and locked the vehicle from outside before setting it ablaze.

The passengers were said to have smashed the glass windows, and climbed their way out of the bus before it was completely consumed by the raging fire.

Prince Mamah said the bus took off from the Maza Maza area of Lagos, on Good Friday, March 29, enroute Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

He also said he was still in shock over “this new dimension to armed robbery which is now accompanied by terrorism.”

The Ifesinachi boss said it was terrifying that armed robbers were beginning to operate like terrorists.

He said this should worry all and sundry, including the government, adding, “nobody knows who will be the victim next time”.

Prince Mamah said, “I can’t imagine the motive behind the burning of the bus after robbing the passengers of all their phones and valuables, plus the limited cash on hand.

“It is a very dangerous trend which needs to be investigated and a stop put to it. If nothing is done now, we may not be lucky next time as no casualty was recorded Friday night, but anything could happen to anyone when next they strike.”

A report by the Sun also quoted the National President of the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON), Mr. Nonso Ubajaka, as saying, “Robbing and burning a luxury bus with 59 passengers on board is unprecedented. This is no longer robbery. It is terrorism.”

A video recording that showed parts of the long bus still burning, however confirmed that no life was lost.

A passenger narrated the incident: “This is the night bus (showing the charred remains of the 59-seater vehicle) in which we were travelling home for Easter on Friday.

“The armed robbers attacked us at Ijebu Ode, and dealt with us: They stripped us of our dresses and belongings and beat us mercilessly. Some of us have Matchett wounds.

“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 alive.

“Though some of us sustained only injuries, we all lost our belongings because the robbers took everything with them, including even the clothes some of us were wearing.

“We have been stranded here since 2am (Saturday morning): Men, women and children who are innocently travelling to the East to celebrate Easter.”