Several newspapers carried the story of the gory killings along the notoriously dangerous Nigeria Lagos-Benin Expressway. The summary: At gun-point a driver of a passenger bus was commanded by armed bandits to run over passengers who had no money on them. No fewer than 16 innocent people dead horribly.
To the strong-hearted here is the aftermath in photo. CAUTION: GRAPHIC IMAGE!
Despite the several police checkpoints along the route, the robbers left their sorrowful marks on the asphalt and hearts of several families.
In return, the Nigerian Senate ranted and vocalized some mumbo-jumbo as usual, observed a few minutes of silence in honor of the dead, and promised to do what they do best — set up an inquiry.
And the police? The “whole report about the incident is vague and that the police could not ascertain that the incident actually occurred”, quoting a statement credited to a police high-ranking public relations officer.
Speechless!
There is more than enough documentation of what is not right with Nigeria, particularly the inefficiencies of the Nigerian police force. When is the will to fix the problem going to start manifesting?
This makes me sick….
March 4, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Please read this piece on Punch: Nigeria Police, a failure – FG: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201003052514548
The question why has the the police force failed to deliver in Nigeria?
Poor funding and an inefficient federal structure, if I may suggest.
The FG thinks otherwise. “Despite the huge resources it had spent on the Force, its members were yet to reciprocate this gesture with their commitment to the job”, according to the Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Lame.
How lame!
March 4, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Words cannot express my horror at this crime. However, there are some reports circulating online that the deaths of the passengers were accidental – though the robbery event precipitated them. It goes like this: Robbers ordered passengers to hit the floor. What commonly happens during operations like this, is that such a scene forces other drivers along the way to stop and thus the robbers can target additional cars and buses. Unfortunately, a truck driver did not stop and it accidentally ran over the passengers who were instructed to stay on the ground. Story can be found here: http://news.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=6728
March 4, 2010 at 10:34 pm
This is horrible, but I believe that it actually occurred back in August of 2009. So the really sad aspect is how long it took for the press and local politicians to take any interest. It took posting this to the world-wide web for Nigerians to raise the issue at home.
Lagos has had a very serious crime problem for a long time. Let us hope that this represents a turning point.
March 5, 2010 at 5:34 am
IT is high time Police start air patrol on this type of highway through which a good percentage of our middle class traders move 2 4 7. Let Pragmatic Governor Fash sell his ideas of Police helicopters to the F. G. And let each state be provided. We have the resources.
March 5, 2010 at 10:47 am
@ Oloye: I beg your pardon, we don’t need no helicopters. You solve crime by making it less lucrative and imposing tougher sanctions.
March 5, 2010 at 3:56 pm
What is this country turning into!!! Pathetic story…
March 6, 2010 at 1:29 am
Most recent story on the incident:
Why I crushed robbery victims –Truck driver
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2010/mar/08/newsbreak-08-03-2010-001.htm
March 7, 2010 at 9:51 pm
This is an example of a failed state as the Nigeria Police believe their sole job is go to the roads and extort from fellow nigerians. Protection of the people is not in their job specs any more.
March 8, 2010 at 9:15 am
All comments above well said but sad to say it gets WORSE. As a result of the publications, the Nigerian government was forced into action, it thus sets up a committee to look into the incident. So far so good but now the committee wants to VISIT the accident site to ascertain what happened months ago! please tell me someone, how does this make sense? Or is every misfortune meant to be a money making venture in my dear fathermotherland?
March 23, 2010 at 9:09 am
Please people, don’t be fooled. Nothing about this is true. After critical analyzing of the picture with high tech digital photo software, my discoveries were shocking. It is a fabricated story. Wonder why on earth one would do that? Reasons are actually many. Think hard people. Let us not allow to be slaves to the media, for the media is controlled, and what we see is what they want us to see, so we can remain slaves forever, without even knowing it.
November 4, 2010 at 10:28 am