1 dead, 3 injured as militants attack passenger bus in A’Ibom

Tragedy struck Etim Ekpo yesterday as militants attacked passenger bus along Ikot Mkporikpo axis killing one person while others sustained various degrees of injury.

The attack occurred two weeks after a soldier was killed and several houses burnt at Iwukem junction in the same community.

In a telephone interview, the police public relation officer of Akwa Ibom police command, Odiko Mcdon confirmed the incident.

He said “the militants shot sporadically at the bus when the driver refused to stop after being flagged down by the hoodlums”.

Reacting to the incident the Divisional Police in Etim Ekpo, Chairman Dore said “another bus, which ran into the scene in flight, veered off the road, crashed into a building and caught fire when the heavily frightened driver lost control”.

He explained that occupants of the bus belonging to the Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC), had to bleed profusely “because the driver refused to stop and drop the affected passengers at the nearby health centre for treatment”.

“One of the injured died on the way because the driver was afraid and refused to stop after the shooting incident. He insisted on reaching safety in Aba before discharging the injured for treatment, but along the road, one died before reaching the hospital in Aba”, he added.

He expressed worry over the activities of the hoodlums, wondering why the militants have refused to heed the Olive branch extended to them by Governor Udom Emmanuel, who appealed to them to lay down their arms for amnesty, rehabilitation and re-integration.

The governor had during his visit to the area penultimate week, donated several truck loads of relief materials to thousands of community dwellers in both Etim Ekpo and Ukanafun Local Government Areas, dislocated by the prolong security crises fuelled by cultists.

With the crises unabated even in the face of sustained interventions by security forces, Dore said religious organisations have been drafted in, with a view to tackling the matter spiritually.

“As I am talking to you now, we are praying right now at the Utu Etim Ekpo Local Government Secretariat”, he said.