Cases of okada snatching escalate in Ogbomoso
Khalid ABRAHAM
There have been a spike in the cases of robberies of commercial motorcycles popularly known as okada in Ogbomoso.
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About four different cases were brought to the notice of ogbomosoinsightonline.com Friday which were said to have occurred in the last four days with the victims reported to have sustained various degrees of injuries, some life threatening.
They involved deadly attacks on the operators with many spending days in the hospital.
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“The husband of a co-worker carried some passengers to Under-G area at about 7pm 3 days ago where he was attacked by the supposed passengers sitting at the back,” it was revealed by an apprehensive man who disclosed, on the condition of anonymity.
“They ordered him to hand over the key of the motorcycle but when he refused he was struck with an hammer in the cheek, the motorcycle was stolen and he landed in a hospital.”
A woman who also preferred not to mention her name, said, “This person is our church member. He operated okada to augment his income. He took a passenger to Iwagba but he was waylaid. He sustained dagger injury in the neck as he was stabbed in the neck by his assailants. It was later a good Samaritan took him from where he fell to a hospital.”
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Another victim had his ear slashed off when he struggled with the robbers in order not to get dispossessed of his motorcycle at Olomi area on Thursday, it was learnt. This is as it’s reported that another commercial motorcyclist this week lost his bike also at Under-G; he was pushed down from the motorcycle and they succeeded in going away with the bike.
Flashpoints of the robberies include Under-G area and other lonely places and strike time is often at night. Also, many have lost their motorcycles at bank premises. The victims went into the bank for transactions and came back to meet their motorcycle vanished.
At Owode Divisional Police Headquarters sources confirmed some of the incidents were reported with assurance that the police will intensify patrols to bring the criminals to book.
