Concerns regarding the increased number of kidnappings and robberies on both the Onitsha-Owerri route and the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway have been voiced by some drivers and residents along both corridors.
On Friday, when reporters visited the area, it was evident that both drivers and pedestrians were having difficulty negotiating the rough sections of the road that ran from the Mgbaemene axis to the Mgbuka junction of the road.
Additionally, it was learned that exotic car drivers who slowed down when they reached dangerous stretches of the road were robbed of their possessions, including their vehicles, and that those who resisted were frequently abducted.
“The new system of robbery from the Upper Iweka along this Onitsha-Owerri Road beside Goodness and Mercy Park has become a fearful trend,” a commercial driver who only went by the name Chidi claimed. Due to the condition of this route, these thieves have been robbing individuals every night.Two SUVs have been taken from their owners in the past week. The robbers block vehicles as they approach large gullies, and occasionally they used their guns to order people to transfer to them. They also fired at vehicles carrying passengers while taking phones from the occupants.
“Anyone who dared to resist was either shot at or had a knife stabbed into them. Even though there are two security checks on that road, the thieves have been positioned at the dangerous parts of the road for more than a week and have been abusing their victims without any opposition.
“Last week, I was driving from Asaba and as I descended the Onitsha head bridge along the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and headed towards my residence in Afor Igwe in the Ogidi area at about 8 pm, a shuttle bus suddenly double-crossed me. Two men came down and ordered me into their vehicle, while one drove my car, a Lexus 350, behind,” said resident and spare part dealer Chinedu Uzo.
“I encountered approximately six of them inside their shuttle bus, all of whom were highly armed. They snatched my phone and my ATM cards, then asked me how much my daily transfer limit was. I replied, and they got my pin numbers before driving into gas stations.
“Two of their members went and used my ATM to dispense cash from the POS of the petrol stations while I was with some of them who were pointing guns at me. They dragged me to about three petrol stations, and at the end of the day, they removed N3 million from my account that night before they released me.”
When reached, Tochukwu Ikenga, police public relations officer for the Anambra State Command, asked locals and drivers to always report such incidences to the local divisional police officer because he lacked any information on them.
Although there are no such reports in front of us, Ikenga said, “the victims are welcome to come to the command headquarters for interviews so that they can provide us with vital information that will help us start investigations.