Traffic robbers have become more emboldened to attack motorists on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
A motorist, who identified himself as Samson Olanrewaju, told the Punch that he was attacked by cutlass and knife-wielding robbers and robbed him of his belongings on the bridge.
According to Olanrewaju , the incident happened on Friday when the robbers numbering up to seven raided vehicles held up in traffic in the Ido area, along the Third Mainland Bridge around 8.30pm.
Olanrewaju, who is the Deputy Chairman of the African Action Congress in the state, said, “I was coming back from work at Lekki, so I drove down the Third Mainland Bridge towards Ido, close to Ijora Olopa where the incident happened. There was light traffic. Those guys were robbing two cars ahead of me already. I couldn’t reverse because there was traffic. I immediately wound up the glass to at least protect myself.
“But as soon as they finished with those two cars, I just heard sounds from the two sides of my car, they broke the side windscreen and began demanding my phone and other things. They entered and removed money from my safe. They had cutlasses and knives. One of them removed everything in my safe, and made away with my power bank, an iPhone 6, and a laptop.”
Olanrewaju said his ordeal was further compounded when he ran to the police station to report the incident and one of the policemen asked him to pay N3,000 for his report to be documented.
Another victim, Adetunji, who said he fell victim the same night, said he lost N15,000, a wallet, and his phone to the robbers.
“It was like a film. I have been hearing about these highway robbers but I never expected that I would be a victim. They took advantage of the traffic, came out of nowhere and started breaking people’s windows, they removed the side mirror of my car.
“My phone, cash and N15,000 were gone. I later got home to find out that my wallet was also not where I placed it in the car. They are small boys, some of them teenagers,” he said.
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the police in the area would review their strategy to improve security on the road.
