Anita Amarachi Uchola boarded a bus to go about her daily activity. She didn’t know that her life was about to change for the worse.
Amarachi is a 200-level student in the Department of Philosophy at Lagos State University (LASU). A gang of armed robbers, widely called “one chance” robbed her while operating in a commercial bus.
The gang robbed and assaulted her before throwing her off the moving vehicle on Friday along IyanaOba-LASU Road.
Anita is presently recuperating at a hospital in the area. She is recovering from the injuries she sustained during the attack. She lost many valuables, including the sum of N952,000. Her accounts were hacked by the “one chance” armed robbers.
Anita, who juggles schoolwork and entrepreneurship, left school at about noon on Friday to make deliveries to her customers.
In her account, Anita said the day began with a visit to her faculty office at school where she had gone to sort out some registration issues, but due to the absence of staff, she decided to leave and complete her delivery duties.
“I had a few deliveries to drop off at my shipping company,” she explained.
She said she left school around 12:16 pm on Friday, but at Iyana Oba, she encountered a spike in transportation fares, forcing her to opt for a bus instead of a bike.
She said, however, that her ride turned into a nightmare after boarding the bus.
“I shouted repeatedly when we got to my bus stop, but the driver and other occupants of the bus were mute. I began to panic. I was immediately slapped by one of the gang’s members who I had taken for a fellow passenger,” she said.
Anita realized she was in serious danger. She tried to cry for help. However, someone struck her in the head with the butt of a gun.
She said: “An elderly woman was sitting beside me. I thought she was a passenger. However, she proceeded to strip me of all my belongings while the bus was still moving.
“The man I initially assumed to be the bus conductor also turned out to be one of the armed criminals. He held the gun to my head and threatened to kill me if I didn’t cooperate.”
She said they forced her to hand over her phone, password and other private details.
“My ordeal reached a terrifying climax when the robbers threw me off the moving bus.
“Luckily for me, the road was not busy, so I didn’t get hit by any bus.”
She said she was helped by an okada (commercial motorcycle) rider who gave her N500 for transport.”
Anita said she tried to block her phone line. She was told she required a National Identification Number (NIN). She didn’t have it on her at the time. However, with the assistance of passersby, she eventually made her way to FESTAC, where she blocked her lines and accounts. But by the time they restored her phone number, the armed robbers had removed all the money from her account.
“They moved all my socials and iCloud. They even emptied my savings account (PiggyVest) of six hundred and forty thousand Naira. They also took three hundred and twelve thousand Naira from my Access Bank account,” she explained.
Following the incident, Anita was admitted to a hospital. Doctors checked her mental and physical condition. She is presently experiencing impaired vision. This is a result of the beating she received from the gang while in the bus.
She said the matter was reported at FESTAC Town Police Station. She added that the police reacted to her complaints. However, they have not yet traced the recipient of the money stolen from her accounts.