Gunmen Rain Bullets On Passenger Bus On Enugu Road, Two Wounded

Some gunmen who are suspected to be kidnappers have staged an attack on a bus.

The gunmen reportedly attacked an 18-seater bus carrying Abuja-Enugu bound passengers along the Enugu-Ugwogo-Opi-Nsukka Road.

SaharaReporters gathered that the incident happened on Tuesday evening at Ekwegbe section of the 10km road despite having over 14 military and police checkpoints.

Although, the driver of the full-loaded bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit (PMT) manoeuvred the vehicle out of the situation without anyone being kidnapped, unfortunately, two passengers in the front seat were not lucky as they sustained varying degrees of gunshot injury.

SaharaReporters gathered that the affected passengers had been taken to Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, ESUT-PARKLANE for treatment.

One of the passengers who spoke to SaharaReporters on Wednesday described the attack as horrific.

He said despite many military and police checkpoints on the Opi-Nsukka-Ugwuogo-Abakpa Road, motorists cannot pass freely.

The passenger, Moneke Okenyi, narrated: "We were coming from Abuja to Enugu. Shortly after we branched to Opi-Nsukka-Ugwuogo Nike Road, people began to talk about the unsafe nature of the road because of the activities of kidnappers.

"After we crossed a military checkpoint located at Ekwegbe axis, we did not move more than three poles when people in the front roll started shouting 'Jesus', 'Jesus'. The next thing we heard were gunshots from both front and back.

"Our driver continued despite the gunshots. The unfortunate thing is that from a mobile police checkpoint, you can see the hoodlums who appeared to be Fulanis. By the time our driver managed to get to a police checkpoint, we discovered that the bullets had hit two passengers.

“The leg of one of the passengers was badly shattered. We were all taken to ESUT-Parklane Hospital for treatment.

"Regrettably, if you report this incident, the government and police will come out to downplay the attack. It is unfortunate that despite all the promises and increased security checkpoints, motorists and commuters hardly ply the road in a week without any incident kidnapping attack.

“All the people that have been kidnapped were taken to either Kogi or Benue State and they were all Fulani bandits."

SaharaReporters recently reported that drivers plying the route from Abakpa to Nsukka protested against the incessant abductions and killings on the road.

They called on the government and security agencies, especially the police to provide adequate security on the road.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporter's efforts to speak with the state police public relations officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe were unsuccessful as he didn't answer his calls.