A Ladun Liadi (LL) reader who lives around Agidingbi in Lagos has shared the
story of how God saved her twice from a set of robbery gangs who parades the
area in danfo buses. Her car was at the mechanics for few days, so she had to
get to work through a public bus and that was how she met her ordeal.
Luckily for her, she made it alive, and even though she lost personal
belongings, it wasn’t too severe. She wants other readers to learn from her
story and be more careful. And then she
has a question for the government.
2014, is not one day I will never forget in a hurry because that was the
day I had my first and last “ONE CHANCE” experience. One- chance, for
those who do not know, commonly refers to robbery attacks carried out on
unsuspecting bus passengers. Continue below.
I woke up that early morning without an inkling of what lay
ahead, I believed that as my car was at
the mechanic place for repairs, I had have to move out early and be at work
before 7 am. As I was waiting patiently
at the Daily times bus stop Agidingbi,
Ikeja to board a bus, a yellow painted- commercial bus stopped beside me
and the conductor shouted under bridge Ikeja, I didn’t even think twice, I jumped
aboard. Usually I am a patient person, but consider my joy immediately I saw
the bus stopped few minutes after I got
to the bus stop when on the previous day, I had
waited for more than 30 minutes at the same bus stop I eventually trekked
a long distance to get a vehicle. That happened to be my undoing. I boarded the
bus without my usual perusal of the bus occupants.
bus, immediately I entered I looked around back, and to my discomfort noticed
all the occupants were men, eight of them
men including the driver, which I didn’t notice previously as some had
their faces covered with caps and others dressed like women . It finally dawned
on me, that these were no ordinary passengers, that’s when I said to myself ‘I
don enter this one”.
later relaxed. Once they noticed I was on to their game, one of them crossed to
sit beside me and enclosed me in, saying he wants to get down at Coca -cola ,he
later tapped me, and said in a calm voice ” Madam, do not panic or shout
so you won’t be hurt’.
just be mere thieves and not kidnappers or ritualists. I repeatedly chanted
” Blood of Jesus” even when one of them hit me and asked me to stop
saying it, But I just couldn’t stop. It was my saving grace.
Smartphone, jewellery, Atm card and money to the kill-joys. Though I took down
the plate number and reported to the police, who by the way asked me to trace
the owner through the local government where the vehicle was registered, as if
I am a private investigator.
time to Yaba, immediately I noticed they are the same people, I alighted
but I have decided to let everything be
but here are few lessons I will like to share with everyone so as not to fall
victim of such unpleasant experiences.
conscious, being and remaining safe is a collective effort and its starts with
the individual.
poorly lit, always in darkness or usually lonely, its better you move in twos,
ask a neighbor or vigilante to walk you, get a particular keke napep/okada or cab
to pick you to the nearest bus stop or
if you are not too late, wait till day breaks so you can recognize faces or
take in more details.
vehicle, try as much to notice the occupants of the vehicle: are they are all
male (sometimes they engage females in their evil acts)? Is the conductor holding
money(It’s a sign they are legitimate and the bus has been engaging in business
since morning )?
insisting on where you must sit? Are you
alone at the bus stop? Watchfulness is key.
valuables as you can, a day after the robbery incident, a friend of mine lost 2
laptops, cash and phones to hoodlums around the same axis.
panic, remain calm, take in as much details as you can, faces, plate number,
make and model of vehicle to help you give a comprehensive description to the
appropriate authorities later.
there no working streetlights in Ikeja, considering its Lagos’s capital and centre
of commercial activities?
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