Robbers attack journalist, rape female passengers in Benue

From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi

Robbers have reportedly attacked passengers, among them, a Journalist, Amos Aar, a Reporter with the National Record Newspapers.

According to Aar, they were attacked on Tuesday at about 9pm along Naka-Makurdi road, few kilometers from Makurdi, the Benue state capital, when a passengers vehicles they boarded from Otukpo to Makurdi, ran into the robbery scene.

Narrating his ordeal, Aar, said the robbers also raped two female passengers during the operation that  lasted for more than an hour without any security intervention.

He said, the robbers numbering about 10 also collected their phones and other valuables on them, while threatening to kill those  who did  not have a handset or money on them .

According to him, the robbers maltreated some passengers who begged for their sim cards.

“We took off from Otukpo at about 7:30pm because there was no passengers at the park due to the increase in transportion fare as a result of  the high cost of fuel. When we left, we were coming without any challenge until we saw a vehicle in front of us close to Adaka, a village before Makurdi, but we thought it was a security check point. When we drew closer, we met the robbers.”

He thank God for sparing their lives in the hands of the robbers and cautioned passengers plying the road to avoid night journeys even as he called on the security agencies to be more prominent along that axis to rid  the state of the criminals.

Recently ,Naka Divisional Police Officer (DPO), was ambushed and killed on the same road,  and mourners and other road users have been attacked and kidnapped on the same road.

Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), SP Catherine Anene, in a message said she was yet- to – be briefed about  the incident.