No fewer than five persons were reportedly shot on Wednesday evening along the Ekreravwen axis of the East-West Road in Ughelli North council area of Delta state.
It was learned that the incident occurred around 6 pm with an unspecified number of persons abducted by heavily armed hoodlums.
GIOTV reports the Ekreravwen/Uvwiamughe-Agbarho section of the expressway has been notorious for hoodlums attack and kidnapping.
One such incident in September 2019 led to the death of a Police inspector.
Pictures of the incident showed an interstate transit 18-seater bus with shattered personal effects on the ground.
A red car with the window on the driver’s side was totally shattered while a tricycle had bloodstains on the back seat.
According to a source, one of the victims, a woman, was rushed in an ambulance to a private hospital in Warri.
The source disclosed the victim taken to Warri sustained bullet wounds on her chest.
“A woman was rushed to a hospital (name withheld) here in Warri. She was shot by armed robbers by Beta Glass in Ughelli. They said five were shot but the others were rushed to a hospital in Ughelli.
“She was brought here in a Delta State ambulance that was what attracted me. She is inside the hospital with her family. She was shot on the upper region of her chest,” the source said.
A community source said he saw two persons, a man, and a woman, who sustained gunshot injuries in the incident.
He claimed the assailants sprung from both sides of the bush bearing AK-47 and shot sporadically for a long time before abducting an unknown number of travelers.
“Yesterday, an Agofure bus and some other vehicles were involved in the attack. The armed robbers came from both sides of the road. They shot heavily. One Ekrerawhen boy was shot in the head, but he didn’t die.
“A lady was shot on both legs. The thing is these people were not robbed, instead some were kidnapped.
“Because those that were remaining said they had their phones, they didn’t collect their money and all that,” the source stated.
Delta Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident.
He however noted the number of those kidnapped was yet to be ascertained but efforts are in to rescue them.
“It is true. For now, we have one person that was shot, a male. For now, we cannot ascertain (number of those kidnapped). The kidnappers have only made calls to one person.
“The report I have is that an Agofure vehicle is involved, a Keke rider was involved and I think a mini-bus or so,” the PPRO said.