How I was Robbed By Men In Army Uniform- NULASS PRO

 By Wasiu Bello and Leshi Adebayo

This is the story of Mr. Sadiku Joshua, a student of the Lagos State University and Public Relations officer of the National Union of Lagos State Students (NULASS), who was one of the victims of robbery incident that happened along Alakija-Badagry road, Lagos.

In this interview, he gives an account of his experience at the hands of these unknown robbers, dressed in Army Uniforms, how it all happened from the beginning to the end. 

Follow his story and reflect…

Sir, can you give a brief introduction of yourself?

My name is Sadiku Joshua Arinola, popularly known as S.A.J. I am a 31st Sergeant At-Arms Of the Lagos State University Students' Union Parliamemtary Council.

Kindly recount what happened on your way to Alakija, close to a month ago?

Explicitly, it actually happened on 9th of October, 2021, at around 10:26am. I boarded a bus at the school gate, Iyana-iba with about 8 individuals, of which one was a military personnel sitting at the front alongside a student beside him. We left that venue around 10:31am. On getting to the cantonment, that is  barracks , two armed military personnels came onboard. We were already about 10 individuals there and the bus went along, normally. Then, the driver collected his transport fare as usual. But, on approaching the Alakija, the incident took place.

Before  narrating the ordeal at the Alakija bridge, can you explain the formation of how people were sat in the bus?

Okay. At the front seat, we were having 2 individuals- the soldier man and a lady- then directly behind the driver, we were having like 3 people there, probably students. Then, the middle seat that was where i was seating had  a student from FSS ( Faculty of Management Sciences), i can't recall the name,  and a woman (market woman). Then, behind us, 2 people, then at the last seat just 1 person. So, getting to that cantonment, the soldier men that came in went straight to the back seat. 

"Reaching Alakija, at the point of ascending the Alakija bridge, we just heard something like, "Everyone should drop out everything they had."

In what manner exactly?

"Everyone submit what you have!"(Interviewer laying emphasis on the commanding expression) They brought out this army bag. The voice was actually from the back. And the soldier actually brought out this bag and there was this guy- the one seated at the back was like, "Submit wetin?" And there was this hit on him. Before we knew it, it was so rough. It was like a slap from the back. It was so rough that they brought out a gun and a dagger- that was from the back and it was looking like the soldier man at the front wasn't even part of this whole scheme or something. And everyone just started submitting into the back. The bag is also a soldier bag. The guy with the dagger went forward, collected that from everyone seated at the front and all. So individuals trying to drag with them, they kind of hit them and it quite very annoying somehow, the vehicle was actually on motion. But, at that point in time, on that bridge, the pace was so smooth. It wasn't as fast as before. I think it should be on 20-30.

What were the properties that people had to forcefully give away?

We had systems, we had phones, powerbanks and it's likes, one of the soldier men brought out a P.O.S. Those small P.O.S that looks like a mini calculator and used it to extort  money immediately and  also dropping the ATM cards inside the bag. 

For the victims, what kind of loss did they suffer apart from the material losses

Particularly to myself now,  because there was this market woman, who is actually aged, and  they were pushing everyone down from the bus. , i felt they shouldn't do that to her because she is old. So on trying to tell the soldier man, because i said it in this manner, "Hauwa", so the one in front actually spoke back to me and like, "You, bloody civilian. Get out!" So, they just pushed me but i managed to still get up, though i fell but just sustained little bruise as at that point. But, the moment i was trying to talking about the woman, not pushing her, they had to wait. The one with the gun came down and hit the back of the gun in my stomach. So, i bending down like this, the mouth of the gun hit me directly to my hand, the hand went lifeless immediately, i won't lie to you. And thank God, the woman came down safely. 

But, unfortunately the lady sitting at the front with that soldier man , faced the worst part in the sense that the soldier man was trying to drag with her phone with her. She was using an iPhone 12 or so and she just bought it, so she was kind of begging the man. So the man angrily said, "You, bloody civilian! You don't know what we suffer in this country." He just opened the door, used his leg to hit the door, and pushed her all we just knew was that girl flew out of the car, hit her head on that pavement. And blood started gushing out. So, she was just trying to get help to the hospital, she just got down and took a bike.

So, have you heard about or heard from this lady since the incident what had happened to her?

I haven't. I have tried so much to get any information about her, perhaps maybe she is a student of LASU or something. But I  haven't really gotten any fact. But, particularly, this friend of mine or this guy that I can still recall his face. The last time I met him at FSS, and he was like, he also did not think the lady is actually a student because if she had been, definitely, but then we would have heard something.