Eighteen
women aboard a commuter luxury bus were reportedly raped in the wee
hours of Thursday March 8th, by armed bandits few kilometres from
Okene, Kogi State. The victims, comprising single and married women,
were among passengers in the ill-fated bus with a Lagos registration
number XM753 AKD, operated by a popular transport company (name
withheld), which was travelling from Port Harcourt, the Rivers State
capital, to Abuja, when the incident occurred at about 2.am.
One of the victims, who narrated the episode to Daily Sun, said the
journey had been smooth from Port Harcourt till a short distance from
Okene, when they ran into an ambush laid by the robbers.
“I was asleep when suddenly, I heard the sound of gunshots. The robbers
shot at the driver’s side in a bid to force the vehicle to a halt. It
was then I realised that they had barricaded the road with logs of
wood. Then, they ordered all of us to disembark and marched us into the
bush.
After dispossessing us of our money and other valuable items, then,
they raped all the women in the bus, numbering about 18, one after the
other. It was a traumatic experience which lasted for about three
hours,”, one of the female victims who declined giving her name
recounted.
Daily Sun learnt that it was indeed a pathetic scene as some of the
female victims who could not conceal their pains wept profusely as they
narrated their ordeal when the bus arrived its terminal at the Utako
district of Abuja at about 10 am yesterday.
Kogi State police spokesman, ASP Okasanmi Ajayi, however, said the
incident was not officially reported at the command. “I have made
contacts to the various police divisions, but there is no record of the
incident,” he told Daily Sun on phone
Source: Daily Sun
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