There is an eye-witness account of bandits killing one and abducting others on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday.
Security officials, however, said the kidnap attempt by the bandits was not successful as they were repelled by the security men attached to a VIP who was travelling in a convoy towards Ibadan at the same time the bandits struck.
Eyewitnesses told Instablog that one person was fatally shot around Dominion University City of Faith, KM 24, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when the bandits released a volley of shots on travellers.
There was a censored picture of someone on the ground beside a car, but it was not clear if the person was dead or just injured. The doors of the vehicle are open and two men stand by the driver side and the rear of the car, looking confused.
A video clip sent to the platform only shows the commotion that followed after the bandits had apparently struck and departed.
Commuters and motorists can be seen running in various directions in panic.
While no specific figure was given, the witnesses claimed they saw three private vehicles with doors ajar, abandoned beside the road.
A source listed the affected vehicles as a Jeep, a Toyota Camry Car and Sedan vehicle whose model could not be ascertained. The eyewitness who was travelling from Lagos to Ibadan said there was fear among motorists and passengers around the spot.
Explaining what happened, the Commandant of the Amotekun Corps in Oyo State, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd.), told the Punch that the kidnap attempt was foiled by security agents.
The commandant said some security agents who were coming from Lagos towards Ibadan were said to have run into the scene and engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel and eventually drove them away after foiling the attempt.
He said, “The kidnap attempt occurred at Imolisa village and which is within the territory of Ogun State although it is not far from Dominion University which is located within Oyo State.
“I was told that the security agents had travelled to Lagos Airport to pick up their boss and were returning when they ran into the incident.
“They were said to have exchanged fire with the criminals but eventually repelled them and chased them away before they could whisk away their targets.”
A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity also told the publication that if passengers had been kidnapped within Oyo State territory, such would have been reported to the police in the state.
It would be recalled that bandits had tried to have camps along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway about in the early part of this year.
They actually struck a few times in January, capturing some road users.
However, the then Oyo State police commissioner, Ngozi Onadeko, mobilised her team to storm some locations inside the forest near Onigaari and made some arrests. The police worked with local hunters and other security operatives.
After the raid, the police also stationed patrol cars at Onigaari and one other black spot along the expressway.
The kidnappings stopped and the route enjoyed some respite until now.
AIG Ngozi Onadeko was recently replaced by CP Adebowale Williams as the 44th Commissioner of Police in Oyo State.
.
