Luxury bus robbery: Police arrest five suspects

by Segun Olatunji and Eniola Akinkuotu

Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested five suspects for the robbery attack on the luxury bus that was conveying 42 female pupils of Holy Rosary College, Enugu, on Saturday.


acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar

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The spokesperson for the command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, told our correspondent on the telephone that one of those arrested was the bus' driver, whose name was not disclosed.

Adejobi said the driver was assisting with investigations and had identified one of the suspects.

He said, "We've arrested the driver of the luxury bus conveying the pupils from Enugu that were robbed on Saturday at Ogbere as well as four other suspects.

"Others are Oni Olopari, Innocent Omule, Gbenga Adebayo and Samuel Luca. The driver has identified Luca as one of the robbers who attacked them that night.

"The men were arrested at Ijebu Ife and Ijebu Mushin in Ogun State where some items were recovered including a chair taken from inside one of the broken-down vehicles at the scene."

Adejobi added that investigations were still ongoing and assured members of the public that the command would do all within its power to ensure that the culprits were brought to book.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Monday that the 42 girls were attacked by the robbers and some of them raped after being dragged into the bush.

The luxury bus with registration number Lagos XW 875 LSR had broken down around 11pm at Ogere, Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The bus belongs to Ekene Dili Chuckwu Nigeria Limited and was hired by the school to convey the pupils to Lagos for the end of the term holiday.

Although the police denied knowledge of the rape, one of the girls, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity at her parents' residence in Lagos on Monday, said some of the pupils were raped by the hoodlums.

The girl, who said she was not raped because she was undergoing menstruation had said, "The robbers collected N1, 200 from me as well as my mobile phone. When we were dragged into the bush, we were ordered to lie down. The robbers would immediately point the flash light at you and say 'spread your legs open.'

"The robbers defiled some of the girls but when it got to my turn and I opened my legs, they saw blood between my thighs and this was because I was on my menstrual cycle.

"The robbers thought I had been raped already, passed me by and continued raping the other girls."

Adejobi had said the place where the vehicle had broken down was becoming notorious because of the spate of such robberies.

Meanwhile, The PUNCH online readers have continued to expressed shock and disbelief at the barbaric act with some of them accusing the police of incompetence.

One of them, Afowowe Olawale, wondered why the police found it difficult most of the time to respond to distress calls.

Olawale said, "My question is where were the police before the incident? Why did it take them hours to dispatch their men to get the robbers arrested in time? it's becoming consistent in that area! Why?

"The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, should do something about this now before it's too late. Ogun is a flashpoint for thieves. I was also robbed around Babcock University last year March only for the police to come almost two hours after the operation.

"The thieves went with my phones, and other valuables of other passengers of the vehicles I boarded. Some of the passengers were inflicted with machete cut. It's like the Commissioner of Police, the Area Commander, and the Divisional Police Officer do not have a solution to the incessant robberies in the area. Ogun has been taken over by armed robbers."

Another reader, Moses Orogun, queried the competence of the police if they acknowledged that the area where the girls were attacked was notorious and yet could not prevent crimes there.

He said, "So, the police are aware that the area where the robbery and rape occurred was notorious for such, why did they not take pre-emptive measures such as regular patrols to prevent it from happening?

"I want to believe this is the handiwork of these disgruntled policemen who are not happy with the abolition of roadblocks nationwide. They are behind this heinous crime to force the police authorities to reintroduce roadblocks all over the country."

Another reader, Olanrewaju Jimoh, said, "The solution to the issue is to let policemen be in the office for prosecutions only. The army should take over the patrol of all the highways in the country both day and night."

http://www.punchng.com/metro/luxury-bus-robbery-police-arrest-five-suspects/

Meanwhile, The PUNCH online readers have continued to expressed shock and disbelief at the barbaric act with some of them accusing the police of incompetence.

One of them, Afowowe Olawale, wondered why the police found it difficult most of the time to respond to distress calls.

"The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, should do something about this now before it's too late. Ogun is a flashpoint for thieves. I was also robbed around Babcock University last year March only for the police to come almost two hours after the operation.

Ogun is number 2 after Lagos and Oyo is number 3. Thieves full that end no be small.

That was fast.
Sooooooooo, any hopes of apprehending the Abia 'hi-five' gang of r-apists?
Or those NASTY UNIBEN uncouth touts on Youtube performing 'r-ape' of lesbos as 'corrective action' for homosexuality on females ONLY.
I hope these young men are not accused falsely like those 'Zaki' and 'Uche' on Facebook o.
We need concrete DNA evidence. . .not just coerced confessions by 'Nigerian Pilfering Force'!
That way the appropraite punishment is metted out ASAP. . .WITHOUT TRIAL!

Callotti: That was fast.
Sooooooooo, any hopes of apprehending the Abia 'hi-five' gang of r-apists?
Or those NASTY UNIBEN uncouth touts on Youtube performing 'r-ape' of lesbos as 'corrective action' for homosexuality on females ONLY.
I hope these young men are not accused falsely like those 'Zaki' and 'Uche' on Facebook o.
We need concrete DNA evidence. . .not just coerced confessions by 'Nigerian Pilfering Force'!
That way the appropraite punishment is metted out ASAP. . .WITHOUT TRIAL!

Partiality? You are right about them maybe being innocent but dont you think they were nt smart?

These people are so Deviant that in a space of 2 months they have raped underaged gals, i cant understand this curse in a space of 2 weeks a lecturer raped a primary school pupil and now some deviants are raping underaged secondary school gals, isnt there a spiritual factor to all this.

In as much as d acts of d robbers was appalling & shd b visited wt all d weight of d law;d rape episode is yet unsubstantiated& it wud b unfair to put a stigma of rape on any of d girls w/o proof.D punch story(whc was anoda poor,typical nigerian journalism) quoted a witness who ddnt witnes any such act,but inferred frm d fact dat she heard d robbers tellin d girls to open dere legs.Meanwhile an updated version has it dat a grp of girls were hurriedly left behind wen d rbers heard gunshots frm d police,takin d few dey hurriedly forced into d bus.I take it to b an irresponsible,maybe adolescent,certainly poor investigative journalism,for d punch student- witness to infer sth she wasn't privy to,& for d lazy journalist to conclude rape frm it.@ their tender ages,I wudnt expect any of d girls so raped to av left d hospital by now.These robbers shd b visited wt all d wt of d law,but none of dis girls shd b made to carry d toga& life enduring stigma of rape if it none occurred.