Okada Robbers Attack Council Staff

There was commotion at the premises of Onigbongbo Local Council Development Area, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, when a staff of the council, Olalekan Shittu, was shot and robbed by two robbery suspects on commercial motorcycle (Okada).

The victim who was returning from the bank was attacked in front of the council’s secretariat aound 12 p.m.

The suspects shot him on the leg after dispossessing him of his money.

P.M.NEWS gathered that he was accosted by one of the suspects as soon as he got down from the bike which brought him from the bank.

Immediately he was shot, workers within and outside the council premises, including policemen, ran for dear lives while the robbers escaped with their loot on a motorcycle.

The victim was later rushed to the hospital by the council’s Supervisor for Health, Mr. Gbenga Adedeji and other staff of the LCDA.

Speaking with P.M NEWS on his hospital bed, Olalekan said: “I have just arrived from Sterling Bank, Opebi when the robbers struck. One of them crossed the road and came towards me.

“He asked me to give him the money on me. I refused and made to move away but he brought out a gun and barked at me to give him the money on me. Seeing the gun, I immediately handed over the money to him. He collected it and shot me on my leg. When the people around the council premises heard the gun shot, they all took to their heels.

“The armed robber subsequently escaped on a motor bike waiting for him at a distance. After he had left, some good samaritans and council staff came to my rescue and took me to the hospital,” he narrated.

The council’s Supervisor for Information and Legislative Matters, Mr. Musbau Etti, who did not rule out the possibility of an informant within the council, decried the activities of Okada robbers in the metropolis.

“Somebody within the council must have intimated the armed robbers about the guy’s movement to bank or how else did they know about his movement to the extent that they came to lay ambush for him at the council?

“The menace of this Okada robbers is become worrisome by the day. We don’t know a legitimate Okada rider and who is not. We want the state government to find a lasting solution to their menace before it gets out of hand,” he pleaded.

—Jamiu Yisa