Unidentified gunmen Sunday shot dead yet to be identified two persons as they travelled by road from Katsina-Ala to Makurdi, Benue State in central Nigeria. Benjamin Agesan, BusinessDay Correspondent for Benue State, who was one of the passengers in the vehicle, however survived four gunshots.
The incident took place along Ugbema – Abwa road in Buruku Local Government Area, when a waiting van trailed the travellers from neighbouring Katsina-Ala town and opened fire on them when the driver sensed danger and refused to stop, even when the car behind was trying to stop them.
Nigeria is currently experiencing a rising wave of armed robbery, kidnapping and banditry, which has rendered travelling from one part of the country to the other risky.
BusinessDay gathered that one of the victims died on the spot while the other died later even as Agesan escaped with four bullet wounds in his back.
A relative of the BusinessDay Correspondent who visited him where he is receiving treatment in a public hospital, quoted him as saying:
“I went to Katsina-Ala my home town. When I was ready to come back, I boarded a public transport bus (Pleasure Travels), and paid for a ticket to Makurdi, only to discover that some of my friends were also coming to Makurdi in their private car. I decided to sale my ticket and join them.”
Agesan is said to have narrated further that the vehicle he later joined also conveyed local task collectors who were carrying huge sums and were being trailed by the gunmen without their knowledge.
“Shortly after take-off, the gunmen trailed the vehicle to about 5km and shot sporadically at it and in the process punctured it tyres which caused it to somersault into the bush.
He said the robbers ransacked the entire vehicle, killing two occupants and carted money said to run into millions of naira and left Agesan in a pool of his own blood.
Efforts to get police confirmation on the matter yielded no result at the time of filling this report.
