One-chance robbers have killed a commercial bus operator at Rainbow Bus Stop on Oshodi-Apapa expressway near Mile 2, Lagos.
The driver was shot on November 19 while trying to retrieve his bus from the robbers.
He was rushed to the hospital by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives, who chased the robbers and retrieved the bus.
The driver died on Thursday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
Another victim of the robbery incident, Liberty Whitney, 20, from Warri, Delta State, had her valuables recovered from the robbers by the RRS.
Whitney, an International Relations graduate from Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, was coming from the school around 9.30pm.
She boarded the unpainted bus from Oshodi to Mile 2.
According to her, more passengers joined the bus. On getting to Rainbow Bus Stop, two men boarded the bus and that was when pandemonium struck.
She said: “The two men in white native attires pointed guns at us, telling us to remain calm and do as we were told. Other passengers were screaming and jumping down from the bus, I was held by a man that joined the bus at Cele Bus Stop unknowing to us that he was a member of the gang, he pulled me back.
“As I made another attempt to jump down, one of three robbers brandished a gun in my face with threat of shooting if I didn’t comply. One of them asked me for my phone, bag and money and when I was reluctant, he hit me with the gun butt. I couldn’t breathe well for some minutes. I handed over all I had with me instantly, my travelling bag, polythene bag, laptop, phone, chargers and school certificates. Afterward, I was allowed to jump down from the vehicle. Some minutes later, I heard a gunshot; then man was thrown off the bus. He had been shot. He hung on the back of the bus. I don’t know why he did that; it was at this point that RRS men chased the vehicle with bikes. The robbers shot several times in the air but the policemen went after them.
“The robbers on getting to Mile 2 abandoned the bus. I followed the bus and the police at a reasonable distance on a bike until the robbers stopped and ran away. I was able to get my valuables and documents back except for my phone that the robbers took with them.
“I later realised that the man shot and clung to the back of the bus was the driver. He was fighting for his bus which, I learnt, was his only source of livelihood.”
Police spokesman Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP) advised that people should not drag valuables with robbers especially when they are armed.
The case, Oti said, has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.
