Armed robbers struck again on Saturday along Okene-Lokoja highway killing two brothers who were at home for holiday while a policeman on roadblock was shot in the leg.
The incident which occurred at 6pm in between Itakpe and the Kabba junction end of the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway forced commuters and travellers to scamper to safety, abandoning their vehicles in the middle of the road.
It was gathered that the victims who were brothers and from the central part of Kogi State. They had travelled to Lagos from their base in Katsina state for holidays. The were returning to Katsina after the holidays when the incident occurred.
A woman who was caught up in the ensuing confusion, but craved anonymity, told our correspondent that she boarded from Lagos where she had been since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that they encountered heavy vehicular traffic between Berger, in Lagos and Ibadan in Oyo State.
She added that their situation was further compounded when after the attack, the vehicle in which they were travelling developed mechanical fault.
“We boarded our vehicle from Lagos around 7am, but experienced heavy ‘go-slow,’ and not until till after Ibadan, were we totally free from it.
“We got to Osara after 6pm. Our driver was following closely behind the vehicle that was attacked. Somewhere, the driver had to stop for a passenger who was pressed, to urinate, after which we saw oncoming motors flagging us to stop; that there was a robbery operation ahead.
“Some People ran helter skelter, but the residents will not allow us to take refuge in their houses. They said that if they did, the robbers will fish them out one by one.
“After quite a while, other vehicles continued on their journey, but ours will not start. The driver made contacts and a motor mechanic came over from the Kabba Junction to attend to us.
“When we got to the point of the attack, we heard that two brothers were shot and killed, while a policeman at the nearby checkpoint was shot in the leg. We heard that their remains were later evacuated and deposited at the State Specialist Hospital in Lokoja,” she said.
Efforts made to confirm the incident from the Kogi State Police Command proved abortive as the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), William Aya, promised to respond to a message sent to him, but was yet to respond as at the time of filing this report.
