Hoodlums rob girl on 18th birthday at Toyota bus stop

•Police rescue four from suspected kidnappers

Phoebe Emokpaire, the daughter of The Guardian Newspapers Maintenance Manager was left devastated last week after she was robbed at Toyota Bus Stop, along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in broad daylight by one-chance robbers.

The girl, who was robbed on her 18th birthday, had her phone, Samsung Galaxy, taken from her and pushed out of the moving Danfo bus at about 8:30 a.m.

Narrating her ordeal, she said: “I boarded a bus going to Palm Grove from Sadiku Bus Stop and there were three male and two females. A lady alighted before Toyota Bus Stop and the second lady came down at Toyota Bus Stop.

“So, the bus suddenly stopped and the conductor asked the two men in the bus to come down and help him push the bus. They did and it started working.

“The conductor asked me to put my phone in my bag because there’s a fight going on in front. So, as he was pretending to put something beside me, he started pushing me and I asked him to stop so I could help him push it inside and immediately, I checked my bag and couldn’t find my phone.

“They asked me to alight, that they were no longer going to Palm Grove and that they wanted to go to Airport Road. Then I started shouting about my phone. So, they pushed me out of the bus and changed direction,” she explained.

Also, a popular Nigerian Snail merchant, Adejoke Idebi of Everything Joke and others, yesterday, escaped being kidnapped after she boarded a bus going to Charly Boy from Oshodi.

Sharing her story, she said: “I boarded a bus from Oshodi this morning(yesterday) to Charly Boy bus stop. Less than 10 minutes to the journey, little did we know we entered the wrong bus.

“But God is kind, how the Nigerian Police detected that we were in distress, is what we don’t know. We thought they were pursuing us, but we didn’t know they were coming to save us.

“Around Anthony, there was gunfire, I was scared. Our driver started running at a very high speed. He didn’t drop us at our destination. We started heading towards Iyana Oworo. The police didn’t stop either. I began to cry because the speed was too much.

“Then, there was a sharp turn, which the driver negotiated at top speed. We fell from the moving vehicle onto the expressway. Other vehicles were coming behind, but God saved us. Though I was injured, God saved us.

“I’m so grateful to God because he is good and kind to me. To the Nigeria Police, thank you.”

Speaking on the incident, spokesperson for Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said: “We arrested one-chance robbers on Saturday and we will continue to arrest them. It is not possible to end crime but I am happy that we have reduced the number of crimes in the state.

“The case of the crime and shooting along the Charley Boy has not been reported but we will investigate.”