THE foiled armed robbery plan of last Tuesday in Ibadan, Oyo State did not go without its drama, though one not enjoyed by the dramatis personnae. For those whose vehicles were snatched alone, they have cause to thank God for sparing their lives. And for those who were abducted along with their cars that were snatched, they were the ones who faced death squarely but were only saved by providence. And for few others who were hit by stray bullets or outrightly shot by the rampaging gang, their families have been left to mourn their abrupt exit of this world.

Unknown to many, the journey of the armed robbers that invaded the city of Ibadan began from a farmland at Owode, behind Owode Estate, not far from Command Secondary School.

According to police sources, the armed gang had been on the farmland in the early hours of that day and by the time farm owner arrived the place at 6.30a.m., the robbers had strategically placed themselves around.

According to the farm owner who is from the South South part of Nigeria (names withheld), “I arrived my farm along with my wife around 6.30a.m. that day and as I made to park my Nissan Bluebird Stationwagon with registration number GN704KJA, about six men suddenly emerged from their hiding within the farmland and surrounded my car. They collected my phone and that of my wife, removed the batteries and threw them back at us. We were then held hostage, joined gradually by other farmers passing along same route. Their phones were collected too.

“The armed men kept making contacts and looking at their watches. Around 9a.m., a  whiteToyota Hiace bus which had all the while been in the bush, unknown to me and other farmers, emerged. They all jumped inside and drove away.”

From that point was the start of the business of the day for the gang. At Kuola area of Apata, a man (names withheld) driving a Toyota Sienna bus was double-crossed by the bus conveying the robbers at exactly 9.11a.m. The Sienna bus was not  only snatched from him, he was also taken along with the armed robbers, and for the following four hours, he had an harrowing experience, hanging between life and death as they took him round the city. He was in the bus while the robbers had an exchange of gunfire with the police but was divinely saved from flying bullets.

Narrating his movie-like experience, the man, a native of Igbajo, Osun State, told Sunday Tribune that immediately his Sienna bus was snatched and he was taken hostage with his phone taken from him, “another Nissan Pathfinder Jeep was blocked and snatched. The driver was also taken along with the vehicle, making two vehicles. A Mercedes Benz 190 was approaching and when the driver saw them and suspected them, he made an attempt to turn but they closed in on him very fast, took his phones and collected his car keys. From that point we moved to New Garage area through the newly-constructed road, we got to toll gate and turned towards Iwo road. Along the way, the white bus they came with was released and their weapons were moved into the Sienna bus. When we got to Monatan, they collected money from me to buy fuel for the two vehicles. At Iyana Church area, they saw a checkpoint and made a u-turn. We went through General Gas road. They saw a checkpoint there, fired at the policemen who had to jump off the road to avoid the bullets. They snatched two other vehicles there, one Honda CRV and Honda Saloon car. The driver of the Honda car was taken along with us.They made me bow my head in the bus so that I could not look up. Any attempt I made to raise my head was always resisted by the dead robber who would rain slaps on me. They were communicating with one another, making plans to go and attack two new generation banks at Challenge area. They were telling those stationed there to size up the strength of the policemen there and attack them if need be . They were speaking Igbo and Yoruba

“From General Gas, we linked Iwo Road- Ojoo expressway, went in through Agbowo to link U.I. Other members of the gang  who were at U.I. joined us in one of the vehicles. We headed towards Ojoo. They were telling others who were calling them that they were heading towards Oyo. At Ojoo, we encountered traffic jam and one of them suggested releasing shots into the air to clear the way but another one who was the one familiar with the Ibadan terrain and was showing the way suggested otherwise, telling them that army barracks was located nearby and the shots could attract the soldiers. They turned right and faced Iwo Road again. As they were approaching Iwo Road, they saw an Armoured Personnel Carrier and quickly made a turn for Ojoo again. The one who was killed by the police looked through the mirror and saw the APC approaching very fast. He told others: ‘dem don see us o, speed up, speed up’. They increased their speed but, unfortunately for them, ran into a traffic jam. They started shooting indiscriminately and attempted facing Iwo Road again. That was when the APC caught up with them and hit the Sienna bus at the back and by the side. They all jumped out and the police gunned down the one familiar with Ibadan.

“I remained in the bus and as I made to come out, the police wanted to shoot but I raised my hand and shouted that I was taken hostage. They asked me to quickly lie flat so that if they tried to come back, I would not be hit. I was later taken to Oyo State Police Command headquarters, Eleyele with the dead one and another one captured with bullet wound. It was there I was treated where I was injured when the robbers hit my foot with the nozzle of their gun.”

For the lawyer whose Honda car was snatched with the CRV Jeep, he was able to escape being taken hostage, same for the woman who drove the Jeep but the lawyer’s personal assistant was not that lucky as he was also taken along with the robbers. According to sources, the lawyer’s Honda Accord car 2006 model  was snatched at General Gas, Akobo at 10.20a.m. His two phones – Nokia and Samsung, N15,000 cash, shoes worth N40,000 and the PA’s Eriksson phone were all taken by the robbers. From the CRV’s owner too, they collected jewelery and N24,000. According to the woman, “I was about going for afternoon service in my church and wanted to buy fuel.Immediately they stopped me , I knelt down and started begging them to spare my life. They took the money I had on me and jewelry. They asked for my phones but I didn’t bring them out. They asked for the security of the car and I told them there was none. They wanted to take me in the car but at that point, there were gunshots so I just jumped into a nearby gutter and laid flat.”

For the driver of a Vannete bus that was later snatched at Akufo area in Ido Local Government area, he would forever be full of praises to his creator as his heart was in his mouth throughout his encounter with the robbers. The bus with registration number FM982LSR was loaded with Cherie noodles meant to be taken to Eruwa, another town in Oyo State. In the bus was the company’s manager and two sales boy. According to the driver, “we went through Ologuneru and as we got to Akufo area, I was blocked by about 15 men who lined the road, raising their guns. They collected our phones, laptops and cash. They asked us to offload the noodles in the bus, hitting us and asking us to be fast. They removed their weapons from the Honda Accord car which had been damaged.

They forced us to assist them in loading the weapons into the bus and nine of them that crammed themselves into the damaged car jumped into the bus. The driver of the damaged Honda was taken with us. We were pushed to the back of the bus and I was so afraid that any encounter with the police would end my life because of where I was put. Fortunately, we were released with the vehicle at Omi Adio when there was no more fuel in the bus. I witnessed how another car was snatched at Omi Adio. They forgot one ammunition in the bus which I handed over to the police.”

The robbers continued in their onslaught as they snatched  a Volkswagen Jetta car with registration number BL476FKJ. Also a man in his 60s who was travelling to Abeokuta  in his son’s Toyota Corolla car with registration number DD980LSD was not spared. The car was snatched from him between Omi Adio and Bakatari about 1p.m. The bandits also took his two phones and N200,000. As they tried to escape through Ogun State, they also snatched a Toyota Carina 11 car with registration number PD629AAA at Kila. The owner was not let off easily as he was dispossessed of two phones, N9,000.00, ATM cards of two banks, cheque booklet and identification card.

Also not spared was an official of Ido Local Government area whose Hyundai Elantra with registration number AL326DDA was double crossed by about 15 of the robbers at Mining area, Omi Adio. After taking his belongings, he and his driver were also taken hostage. While he was dropped at Kila, his driver and his car were taken to Abeokuta. According to the driver, “I was dropped in Abeokuta when the robbers had an encounter with the police at Eleweran”. All the vehicles were abandoned and later recovered by the police in Oyo and Ogun States.

Sunday Tribune learnt that in addition to arrest earlier made, another one of the bandits who had bullet wounds was found in the bush the following day, making two arrests from Ogun State while one was also arrested in Oyo State where different teams from SARS, Skynet, seven cities and MOPOL worked together to dislodge the robbers. The SARS team from Oyo State chased them into Ogun State, having alerted police in the neighbouring state of the approaching unwanted guests. Two of the robbers were shot dead one in Ibadan and the other one in Abeokuta.

The victims were full of praises to their God who saved them from untimely death as all of them said they could have been hit during crossfire between the robbers and the police.