Suspected armed robbers nearly flogged over 18 passengers to death for refusing to cooperate with them.
The incident occurred around 12 a.m on Saturday few kilometers from Orokam in Benue State.
The armed robbers who were three in number armed in dangerous weapons ambushed the road users and made away with their valuables and beat up those who refused to cooperate mercilessly
Speaking to Daily Post, one of the victims narrated how he was hit with a gun when he proved stubborn.
Narrating the encounter he said;“When I first sighted them from afar, I thought they were police officers and I had to stop for them. Before I realized it, three guys surrounded my vehicle with guns pointed at me, asking us to come down.
“I met other passengers who were robbed and beaten mercilessly on the floor.
“When they asked me to bring out money, I tried to prove stubborn and one of them angrily hit my head with his gun. This incident happened after we had descended from the Okwuja hill, along Orokam-Owukpa highway.
“They collected over N350 thousand from me. My wife was with another 150 thousnd in her bag, they also made away with it. We were heading to the village to complete our building project, but the money is gone,” he said amid sobs.
Another victim said while the robbery operation lasted, security personnel were nowhere to be found.
“After they incident, we ran to the police station in Ukwo but no one was on ground to attend to us”, he said.